


Can I Stay?

by vLightnDarkv



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Dragons, Enemies to Friends, Fantasy AU, Fluff, M/M, Troubled Past, budding friendship, very brief implied rape
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-26
Updated: 2017-07-16
Packaged: 2018-11-19 12:11:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 47,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11313123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vLightnDarkv/pseuds/vLightnDarkv
Summary: Victor has hated dragons since he was seven years old, until a chance encounter with a dragon with a unique ability quickly changes his entire outlook on the creatures. But what else the the dragon hiding? And what can Victor do about it?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> After much stress, self-deprecation, and wanting to put my head through a wall I finally get to post this!
> 
> This is my entry for the Viktuuri Reverse Bang 2017. I've never done a bang before (had never even heard of them until this one caught my attention) so it was certainly an interesting experience. Towards the end of writing this story I started to despise it and wanted to call it quits, but I pushed through and this is the result. Going back for editing I've come to appreciate the story I created and I hope you all will too.
> 
> Art and the original idea for this story is courtesy of the amazing loonixart on Tumblr which you can find [here.](http://loonixart.tumblr.com/post/162290648927/my-arts-for-the-yoi-reverse-bb-hosted-by) I'm still reeling at the art they created. XD
> 
>  
> 
> (Also, a note about the very last tag. Please don't be scared off by it. As it says the instance it implied, meaning that while it happens you don't see it and it's not even talked about. It also doesn't happen until much later in the story, and I'll be sure to give a heads up at the beginning of the chapter where it occurs.)

The sun had nearly set by the time Victor realized just how far away he had wandered from his village. He wasn’t worried—he could easily find his way back—but he was a little surprised at himself for being so unaware. Of course with how focused he had been on seeking out any wild game he supposed it shouldn’t have been _that_ surprising. He had set out early that morning, and the first thing he did was check his traps, none of which had been bothered. Ordinarily he would have just shrugged it off, but this was the third day in a row he had checked them and it was rather unusual that none of them had been triggered. That was when his search had started. If he couldn’t trap anything, then he would simply have to find something himself.

It turned out to not be so simple. The forest immediately outside his village was oddly barren of wildlife and unusually quiet. So he had gone deeper into the forest—deeper than he usually did when hunting—but it seemed no matter how far he went there were no animals to be found. He had never heard the forest so still, and even as night settled in around him the stillness only became more apparent. Where there would usually be the sound of crickets chirping or the occasional hoot of an owl there was only silence. The only sound was the rustling of leaves as the wind blew through their branches, it was rather unsettling.

He turned his attention to getting back to his village. Being the hunter he was he hadn’t left tracks to follow—which would have been harder to follow in the dark anyway—but there were other ways to determine his desired direction. He looked towards the sky, scanning the inky black expanse for the stars he needed. It took a moment, but soon enough he found them and had his direction. The only light he had came from the moon so he knew he would have to be careful of where he stepped. The forest floor crunched loudly under his boots as he walked, making the silence around him all the more insufferable. Even though he wasn’t actually trying to be quiet the sound was a bit grating, never before had he been so aware of his own presence. It was as if the entire forest was holding its breath in anticipation of something to come, though what that could be he had no idea.

The moonlight suddenly flickered, stopping him in his tracks and drawing his gaze skyward. Eyes narrowed, he scanned the sky for any sign of what had caused the brief blackout. He knew he hadn’t imagined it, but what could it have been? It couldn’t have been a bird, even the biggest one he could think of wouldn’t have been able to momentarily block the moon. And then he saw it and his breath caught in his throat. Wide wings, long, sleek body, it turned in a graceful arch as it circled back around.

Dragon.

Victor was frozen in place as he watched the creature glide through the air above him, its head moved slowly from side to side as if he were looking for something. One thought immediately came to mind. Hunting. The realization hit him hard and he was finally able to move. Ducking behind some thick brush, he quickly looked towards the creature again, his heart hammering almost painfully in his chest. If it noticed him it gave no indication as it continued to fly in a wide circle. Why was there a dragon _here?_ Dragons hadn’t been seen in this area in a long time, longer than Victor had been alive. It was the reason he had finally settled in the small village of Torvel in the first place. He never wanted to see another of the vile beasts again as long as he lived.

He wanted to run, he needed to warn the village, but he was rooted to the spot. Too afraid to move, to even _breath_ lest he draw the attention of the creature above him. Memories he thought he had finally managed to subdue came flooding back to him. Panicked screams, loud roars, and heat. So much heat. Closing his eyes tightly he tried to force the memories down, now was not the time to be thinking of such things. As the screams in his head faded his fear gave way to hot, hate filled anger. It consumed him until he could feel nothing else.

His eyes snapped open and he looked towards the sky once again. The dragon was still circling, clearly having no better luck hunting than he had. Forgetting that he was just a simple hunter with a simple bow, forgetting that it was a dragon he was up against, he moved from his hiding place and scaled one of the trees with ease, hiding himself amongst the branches. He hesitated only a moment when the dragon seemed to incline its head in his direction, but when it looked away again he nocked an arrow, drew the string back, and waited. If any of the books he had read on the beasts were true he would have one chance. He just needed the right moment…

When the dragon turned to circle back around again he got it. He adjusted his aim before releasing the string and the breath he had been holding. The arrow whistled though the air, quickly disappearing into the dark. He waited with bated breath, his eyes never leaving the beast. For a moment he thought he had misjudged the shot, had underestimated the distance, but then he saw the dragons head snap to the side. A loud, piercing screech rang out over the trees, rattling his bones and sending birds flying in panic. Covering his ears he watched as the beast curled in on itself, its body writhing in agony, before its wings failed and it fell from the sky. Victor barely heard the sound of branches being broken as the dragon crashed through the trees, and then there was silence once again.

He didn’t know how long he stayed crouched in that tree, but eventually he lowered his hands from his ears and made his decent back to the ground. The moment he felt the earth under his feet his legs gave out and he collapsed to his knees as the reality of what had just happened struck hard. He had just shot down a dragon. It was only then he realized just how fast his heart was beating and he took a few slow, deep breath to calm himself. He didn’t delude himself into thinking he had actually killed it, a single arrow wouldn’t be enough for that, but he had still knocked it out of the air. The crash had most likely injured it further, if he were to go to it now he would had a decent chance of finishing it off.

His mind was set and ready to do just that, but his hunter’s instincts kept him in place. He was further out than he usually went and wasn’t very familiar with this area of the forest. That alone wasn’t so bad. Even if he got lost he knew he would be able to find his way back. But it was also night, and while the moon offered some light he could still only see a few feet in front of him, and traversing through unfamiliar woods was ill-advised even if he hadn’t seen a single creature that day. Then there was also the fact he couldn’t be entirely sure where the dragon had gone down. He knew the direction sure, but it was only a general idea. The dragon hadn’t fallen straight down, and if it was still mobile there was no telling where it may end up. No, if he was going to find the beast he needed to wait until morning.

He considered making camp right there—he was no stranger to sleeping under the stars—but he hadn’t brought enough provisions for an overnight stay. Victor didn’t like weighing himself down with too many supplies, a small bag of rations and his bow was all he needed. If he needed additional food or water he could easily enough find it. Unless of course the wildlife was hiding from a dragon, that had certainly been unexpected.

With a resigned sign he got to his feet. Much as he loathed the idea he would have to return home, restock, and set out again in the morning. All while hoping the dragon was too injured to get very far. He looked to the sky, finding his direction once again, and began walking, marking his path as he went along. It wasn’t something he usually did, but he wanted to be able to find his way back to that spot as quickly as possible come morning.

It was well into the night before the lights of his village came into view, and he suddenly realized just how exhausted he was. The adrenaline from the encounter with the dragon had faded long ago, but his sole focus had been getting home, and now that he was near he wanted nothing more than to collapse into his pillow.

The streets were deserted as he trudged his way through, not that he had expected any different, with faint light coming from only a few houses. His own was nestled towards the far end of the village, a fact that he cursed at the moment since it was taking all he had just to stay standing. It was with a deep sense of relief when he finally reached his front door. Lifting the latch, he pushed it open and stepped inside. He didn’t get the chance to close the door before something large and fluffy barreled into him and sent him sprawling to the ground. There was no time to catch the breath that had been knocked out of him before a warm weight settled on his chest and an excited tongue began licking every inch of his face it could reach. His fatigue momentarily forgotten, he let out a breathless laugh as he pushed back against the mound of fur.

“Okay! Okay Makkachin I’m glad to see you too!”

Eventually the tongue ceased its assault of his face and the weight on his chest lifted, allowing him to prop himself on to his elbows and take in the sight of his ever faithful dog. Makkachin’s tail was wagging so hard his entire rear end was shaking, while his tongue lolled to one side of his mouth. No matter how long Victor was away the pooch was always overjoyed to see him and wasn’t ashamed to show it. Victor sat up fully and reached a hand out to scratch behind Makkachin’s ear, the dog immediately melted into his touch.

“Sorry boy. I left you alone all day.”

Makkachin shifted his head to give Victor’s wrist a light lick that he took to mean he was forgiven. He remained sitting on the floor a while, content on petting Makkachin until a yawn escaped his lips, reminding him of just how tired he was. Makkachin gave him a reproachful look when Victor stopped petting him and finally dragged himself to his feet, but as if sensing something was off—which Victor had no doubt he could—he trotted over to Victor’s bed and hopped up. Victor couldn’t help but smile at his cleverness.

He was too tired to worry about unstringing his bow, he would only be using it against in a few hours anyway, so he set it on the table along with his hip quiver before shuffling over to his bed and flopping down face first. Makkachin moved to lay beside him and Victor wrapped his arms around him, sighing contentedly into his soft fur. It wasn’t long before he was sound asleep.

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

It took Victor about two hours to get to the spot where he had first spotted the dragon. More than ever he was glad he had marked his path. Everything had looked completely different in the daylight, and he had to admit he wasn’t entirely sure he would have found this place again had he not left himself a trail. Now it was time for the real test. Would he be able to track the dragon? He knew the direction it had fallen, but other than that he had nothing to go by. He glanced over to Makkachin who was busy sniffing around the area. While he was trained for hunting, Victor had nothing to give him to scent, so he couldn’t rely on his pooch. Not that he had really intended to anyway. He didn’t know how long it would take for him for find the dragon—if he found it at all—and knew he could be gone for a few days. Not wanting to leave Makkachin alone that long he had brought the dog with him, as well as enough provisions for the both of them in case he once again wasn’t able to hunt anything.

The forest hadn’t been as quiet as it had been the previous day, birds were singing in the trees and there was the occasional rustle of something small scampering across the forest floor, but there was still a tenseness in the air, and anything worth hunting was keeping surely out of sight.

He easily located the tree he had shot the dragon from and climbed back up, wanting to be absolutely sure of his direction. Settling in the same spot he looked out towards where he remembered the dragon being. The tree wasn’t nearly tall enough to get a view of the area where the dragon had gone down, but knowing which way to go was enough. Satisfied he knew where he was going he climbed back down, called Makkachin to his side, and began his trek.

He moved slower this time, making sure he kept his path as straight as possible. When he had been walking for a while he started looking up towards the trees, searching for any sign that something large had crashed through them. At first there was nothing, but after a few more feet he saw the first signs. Branches and leaves were strewn about everywhere, and when he looked up he could see the tops of a number of trees broken or bent at odd angles. There was no doubt about it, the dragon had come down here. He walked forward cautiously, eyes darting back and forth as they searched for any signs of movement.

After a few minutes he determined the dragon wasn’t anywhere in the immediate area and set about searching for where it might have gone. The trees were all broken in the same direction, so he felt safe assuming the beast hadn’t taken to the air again. The ground was a mess, the broken foliage making it difficult to search for tracks, and then he saw it. A dark discoloration on some of the leaves. He knelt down for a closer look, confirming the stain to be what he already knew. Blood. It was almost black, having dried long ago, but when he looked up he could see a distinct trail leading away from the area.

Calling Makkachin to him he began to follow it, taking extra care where he stepped so as not to make a sound. His senses were on high alert, he ears listening for any sounds that didn’t belong, his eyes looking around intently. He could feel his skin prickling with anticipation, and maybe a little fear. It was a dragon he was tracking after all, and even though it was injured he knew better than to let his guard down.

He had only been walking a few minutes when Makkachin’s head suddenly perked up. Victor glanced at him, but before he could do anything the dog let out a single bark then took off, quickly disappearing between the trees.

“Makka!”

Forgetting where he was, forgetting what he was doing, he dashed after his dog. He didn’t care how much noise he was making, didn’t care that the entire forest likely knew they were there, all that mattered was finding Makkachin before something else did.

“Makka! Makka come!” he called, hoping he would be heard and was rewarded with a bark just ahead of him. Picking up the pace he dashed forward, bursting through some low branches into bright sunlight. Momentarily blinded, he raised a hand against the offending light and took a few tentative steps forward.

“Makka?”

Another bark, this time closer, answered him, and after a moment he lowered his hand to let his eyes adjust. He had entered into a small clearing set under a cliff, a small stream ran along one side, disappearing into the woods. Makkachin was lying near the base of the cliff, looking back at him expectantly. And he wasn’t alone. Lying just behind him with one hand buried in the dog’s curly fur, was the form of a person, Victor’s eyes widened and he hurried over, quickly falling to his knees and setting his bow aside.

“Hey, hey can you hear me?”

The person lying before him was a young man, only a few years younger than him if Victor had to guess. He had short, messy hair the color of the night sky, and Victor was alarmed to find that he was completely naked, his body covered in numerous scratches and cuts. Where in the world had he come from?

The young man shifted slightly at the sound of his voice and after a moment, with some effort, he slowly opened his eyes. Victor felt his breath catch in his throat. In spite of the circumstances at hand, he couldn’t help but marvel at the beauty of the young man’s eyes. They were a soft brown, but had a gold glint to them when the sun hit them just right, he had never seen anything like them before. For a long moment Victor just stared, getting lost in those eyes, but eventually he came back down to earth and mentally chastised himself. This person clearly needed help, now was hardly the time to be daydreaming.

“Hello?” he tried again, speaking gently so as not to alarm the young man.

He watched as those stunning eyes shifted to look at him and he couldn’t help the small blush that tinted his cheeks. God what was wrong with him? He really needed to get a grip. The young man started at him for several moments, his eyes squinting slightly as if he couldn’t see him properly. Suddenly his eyes went incredibly wide. He let out an odd sort of panicked squeak before pushing himself up and scrambling backwards. His back slammed into the cliffside not far behind him, eliciting a cry of pain. Victor watched him in alarm, his own eyes wide in surprise and he quickly held his hands up to show he didn’t have anything.

“Whoa easy now, I’m not going to hu-”

His voice trailed off as something caught his eye. He hadn’t noticed when the young man had been lying down, though now that he saw it he couldn’t believe he had missed it. The young man had wings. Large, feathered wings the same color as his hair with hints of green and purple when the light hit them. Victor blinked in surprise as his gaze trailed from the wings to the young man’s face. The young man looked absolutely _terrified,_ like he expected Victor to lunge for him at any moment. Victor however didn’t move as he tried to make sense of the young man before him.

He had only heard of men with wings in stories, they certainly weren’t supposed to be real, and yet here one sat before him. The young man was breathing fast, his chest rising and falling rapidly in a clear panic. Victor needed to try and calm him, to assure him that he meant no harm. He opened his mouth to say as much, but then he saw it. Jutting out of the young man’s left side just above his hip, an arrow. Victor’s breath caught in his throat as he eyes traveled along the shaft to the feathers on the end. His eyes momentarily flicked to the arrows in his quiver then back to the one protruding from the young man’s side. It was _his_ arrow. For a moment he sat in stunned silence, how was it possible this person had been shot by one of his arrows? It had been days since the last time he had shot his bow, the only exception being the previous night when-

His thoughts came to a screeching halt and his gaze snapped back to the young man’s face. He had only shot one arrow recently. In the dead of night when a winged beast had been circling over his head.

He had found his dragon.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Victor found his dragon, now what will he do?

There were many stories about dragons, some more fantastic than others. Some told of dragons that could control the weather and wreak destruction with their wind and lightning. Others spoke of dragons that swam the seas and could sink an entire fleet of ships if so provoked or burrowed underground to cause earthquakes. There were even stories of dragons large enough to block the sun, or so small you didn’t notice them until their venom was coursing through your veins. Though perhaps the most incredible were the stories of dragons that could take on the form of a human. These dragons were said to be exceptionally rare, to the point where most didn’t truly believe they existed. Victor had been among those to feel this way. What sort of cruel irony would allow these hell beasts to become the very thing they terrorized?

And yet the irrefutable was sitting before him. As much as he tried to dismiss it, to say there had to be another explanation, he could come up with nothing. There was no doubt that the arrow in the creature’s side—he refused to see him as a young man anymore—was his own. He used specific feathers for the exact purpose of identification. Not to mention the overall appearance of the creature, plus where Victor had found him… As much as he wanted to deny it he couldn’t. This was the dragon he had seen last night, the same one he had shot down in a moment of anger and hate. Those feeling were slowly beginning to return, and then exploded when he noticed Makkachin carefully inching towards the creature and its eyes briefly flicked towards him.

“Makka get back!” he roared as he grabbed his bow and leapt to his feet, nocking an arrow and drawing the string in one swift motion. He leveled the arrow towards the creature’s heart.

The creature jumped and looked towards him again as Makkachin whimpered at the tone in his master’s voice and shrunk back. Victor glared at the creature before him and drew the string of his bow back a little further, he was going to make this shot count.

“Makka, come,” he commanded. Makkachin’s ears flicked in his direction but the dog didn’t move. He looked between Victor and the creature as if unsure of where to go.

“Makkachin!” He spoke sharper now. “I said come!”

Makkachin let out a soft whine as he continued to look between the two. Finally he moved, but not towards his master. Victor’s eyes widened as Makkachin tentatively crept towards the creature, his head bowed slightly. When Makkachin reached the creature he let out another soft whine then laid down with his head in the creature’s lap, his eyes turned towards his master. The creature went rigid. His eyes flicked down to the dog in his lap then back to Victor, he quickly moved his hands away as if to indicate he had no intention of touching the dog.

Victor stood there stunned, unable to make sense of what had just happened. Makkachin never disobeyed him, especially not when his tone demanded obedience. Was his dog bewitched? He felt his anger flare up again, but then quickly subside. No, Makkachin was acting normal, he had clearly been torn on which of them to go to, not to mention the creature had been just as surprised when Makkachin went to him. So then why had he ignored Victor’s command and gone to the creature? Gone to him as if he trusted him?

Victor felt his hand begin to shake and quickly stilled it. It didn’t matter why Makkachin had gone to the creature rather than him, didn’t matter that the creature had pulled his hands away to keep from touching Makkachin more than he already was.

…

The creature had pulled away. He had pulled away as if knowing Makkachin’s proximity to him would anger Victor, as if to show that he had nothing to do with Makkachin coming to him. He hadn’t moved since then, his eyes fixed intently on Victor, clearly waiting to see what he was going to do. Victor tried to release the arrow, mentally willed his hand to open and send the arrow piercing into the creature’s chest. But no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t do it. His hand refused to listen and he felt anger at his own incompetence settle into his chest. He hated dragons, had for a long time. And now that one was before him, one shot away from death, he couldn’t do it. He couldn’t bring himself to kill the one creature he hated the most.

The creature continued to watch him, and Victor found himself focusing on his eyes. Those beautiful brown eyes that shone in the right light. There was fear in those eyes, that was unexpected, but there was something else there too. Something Victor couldn’t quite place. Sadness? No that didn’t seem quite right. Anticipation? That seemed closer, but still not it. And then the creature closed his eyes and it clicked.

Acceptance.

The creature had accepted that it was going to die, that at any moment Victor was going to release his arrow and its life would end. But Victor still couldn’t do it. Even seeing that the creature wasn’t going to fight and just let him do as he wanted he _still_ couldn’t release the arrow. His arm was beginning to ache from the strain of holding the bowstring taut for so long.

As if sensing the change in the creature’s demeanor Makkachin looked up. He stared at the creature for a long moment before lifting his head and licking the creature’s cheek, what little resolve Victor had left vanished. With an exasperated sigh he lowered his bow and closed his eyes. A coward. That’s what he was, a damn coward. He heard Makkachin let out a bark and opened his eyes to see the dog bounding excitedly towards him. He gave a weary smile as the fur ball hopped around him like he was a puppy before racing back towards the creature and leapt at it, licking every inch of its face he could. The creature’s eyes flew open at the sudden assault. It moved its head back and forth, brought its hand up in an attempt to push Makkachin away, but the dog was relentless. Victor almost laughed at the sight, but quickly reminded himself just what it was Makkachin was showering with affection and frowned instead.

“Makka come. We’re going home.”

This time Makkachin obeyed. He gave the creature a final lick before bounding over to his master, barking happily. In spite of himself Victor reached down and scratched the pooch behind the ears before looking towards the creature again. It was wiping its face, trying to remove the dog slobber off, but when it noticed Victor looking it froze. The two stared at one another, the look in the creature’s eyes was both anxious and questioning. Victor knew the question, why hadn’t he released the arrow? He was trying to figure that out himself. His eyes trailed down to the arrow protruding from the creature’s side, the wound had started to bleed again. No doubt the arrow had been jostled by Makkachin’s excited antics. For a moment he considered approaching. He was no stranger to arrow wounds and could easily remove it with minimal damage, but he didn’t have anything to treat the wound with. Arrow wounds got infected easily, and without being properly cleaned-

He gave his head a hard shake to push the thoughts away. He was _not_ about to tend to a wounded dragon and chastised himself for even letting the thoughts into his head. Sparing a final glance at the creature he turned away.

“Let’s go Makka.”

He started to walk, but paused when he realized Makkachin wasn’t following. He looked back.

“Makkachin, come.”

Once again Makkachin looked torn. He looked at Victor, then at the creature, then back at Victor and tilted his head. He started to go towards the creature, then turned and went back to where he had been standing and let out a whine. Victor sighed and turned back.

“No Makka, _it_ stays here. Now come.”

Makkachin whined again and paced back and forth a few more time, clearly not understanding why the new ‘friend’ wasn’t coming with them. Victor glanced at the creature, who was watching Makkachin, before turning and starting to walk once more. Eventually Makkachin would get the message and follow. He hoped.

Sure enough he soon heard the sound of his pooch padding behind him, quickly falling into step at his side. Victor looked down and was met with the most reproachful look he had ever seen.

“Don’t give me that look, I didn’t kill it did I? Now it’s up to nature. If it lives it lives, if it dies…”

He trailed off. Makkachin let out a huffed woof before trotting ahead of him. Victor watched him go and sighed. First he couldn’t bring himself to kill a dragon, now he was getting the cold shoulder from a dog. What else could possibly happen?

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

Victor swore as he pushed open his door and hurried inside, Makkachin right behind him. It had started to rain about a mile from the village, and though Victor had run the whole way back it hadn’t kept him from getting soaked completely through. He ran a hand through his dripping hair, pushing the wet strands out of his face only to have them fall right back, he sighed. Beside him Makkachin gave himself a hard shake, spraying water everywhere. Victor held up his hands in a futile attempt to protect himself from getting even more wet.

“Makka stop! Stop!”

The dog stopped, but the damage was already done. Seemingly unfazed Makkachin padded further into the house, Victor let out another sigh and did the same. He made his way over to the fireplace and stoked the coals with the metal poker. Once he saw the glowing embers he tossed a log in and continued to poke around until it caugh, small flames began licking at the log. Satisfied, Victor set the poker aside and began the process of peeling his wet clothes from his body, hanging them one by one on a rope near the fireplace to dry before fetching himself a towel and some a fresh set of clothes.

By the time he had redressed the fire was crackling invitingly and he settled himself down in front of it while he rubbed at his hair with the towel. A weight on his knee told him that Makkachin had joined him. He paused and peed through the bottom of the towel.

“Does this mean I’m forgiven?”

Makkachin let out a soft woof and shifted to settle himself more comfortably into Victor’s side. Victor smiled then gave the pooch a good scratch behind the ears, causing Makkachin’s tail to thump against the floor happily.

They sat like that for a while, Makkachin drifting off while Victor listened to the rain beat down on his roof. Eventually his mind began to wander, thinking back on the events of the last couple days. No one was ever going to believe that he had shot down a dragon, _he_ still couldn’t believe it. From everything he had read about the beasts, dragons were supposed to have very thick hides that made them nearly impervious to arrows unless they were specially made. The only exception was their underbelly. There the skin wasn’t as thick so it was possible for an arrow to penetrate there, but even then there was a chance it would just glance off. Based on the location of his arrow on the dragon’s human form Victor had just barely hit the right spot.

But what should he do now? He hadn’t been able to bring himself to kill the dragon, but he couldn’t just leave it out there either. Even if it was a few miles away, it was still close enough to be a threat. Should he tell someone? The beast had been in pretty bad shape and was likely to die in the next couple of days anyway, then it wouldn’t be a problem. But if there was one dragon there could be more. Victor had no idea why the dragon was there, but he wouldn’t be surprised if the beasts were scouting out new territory. No, he _had_ to tell someone, they needed to be prepared should the worst happen. Tomorrow he would go to the village head and tell him what had happened. He’d drag the man to the clearing to prove it if he had to. And then-

His thoughts were interrupted by a loud crash of thunder that shook his walls. Makkachin woke with a yelp and scrambled into Victor’s lap. Victor immediately began to stroke the trembling pooch and spoke in low, comforting tones.

“It’s all right Makka, nothing to be afraid of. It’s just a little storm.”

Makkachin whimpered and snuggled into his master’s neck. Victor couldn’t help the small chuckle that escaped his lips before looking towards the window, it was really coming down out there. The rain pounded against his roof while the wind blew hard enough to rattle his windows, he was certainly glad to be inside. 

“Wonder if that dragon found somewhere to hide…” he mused idly.

When the realization of what he had said hit him he looked away from the window as if it had offended him. Why did he say that? He didn’t care what happened to that creature, hell he was counting on it dying in the next few days so that he didn’t have to worry about it anymore. It deserved to be out there, cold and helpless, a fate befitting such a vile creature. But even as he thought that a heavy weight settled deep in his stomach. Frustrated with himself he got to his feet, after detangling himself from the bundle of fur that was his dog, and went about busying himself with making them both something to eat.

He closed cupboards and drawers harder than was necessary, bowls and utensils smacked against the table. Makkachin whined and inched over to him, nuzzling his nose against his master’s leg. Victor looked down and immediately felt the tension melt out of his shoulders. He knelt down and scratched behind both of his ears.

“I’m worrying you aren’t I? Sorry.”

Makkachin turned his head and gave Victor’s wrist a small lick causing the man to smile. He continued comforting the pooch a minute longer before standing and returning to his task, feeling much calmer. Thought’s of the dragon were still at the back of his mind, but he was able to ignore them. Tomorrow he would definitely go to the village leader, and then he would be able to rid himself of those thoughts for good.

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

The rain continued on into the following day. It wasn’t coming down as hard as it had been the previous night, but it was still enough to make the thought of venturing out to the village head’s house daunting. After mentally debating for half an hour Victor decided to wait it out. They wouldn’t be able to head out to the clearing until the rain stopped anyway so why get himself drenched again?

Instead he busied himself with tasks around the house. Taking down meat he had hanging to dry and storing it away, patching up tears in some of his clothes, fletching some arrows. He was amazed at the number of menial chores he could find to keep himself distracted. But as the day wore on, and the rain showed no sign of letting up, he eventually ran out of things to do and found himself nestled in front of the fireplace one more. Makkachin dozed beside him while he absentmindedly ran a hand through the dog’s soft fur. Once again his mind drifted to the dragon and this time he let it.

He thought back to the moment the dragon had looked at him. It had been startled—couldn’t get away from his fast enough—and had stared at him in wide-eyed fear. And it had been fear, he didn’t doubt that for a second. You couldn’t fake the emotion Victor had seen in the creature’s eyes. Of course that only raised the question as to why a _dragon_ would be afraid of a single human. The beast could have killed him easily had it been in its true form, and yet it had shied away from him as if _he_ were the most dangerous thing there. Was it because it was injured? That seemed logical, but then why hadn’t it tried to defend itself? In his experience wounded creatures tended to be more dangerous because then their survival instincts kicked in and made them do whatever they had to in order to protect themselves. A dragon should have been no different.

So why hadn’t it done anything? Why had it simply sat there and allowed Victor to threaten it? To nearly kill it? He thought back to the look in the dragon’s eyes as he stood poised to pierce the creature’s heart with an arrow. The look of acceptance at the fact that its life was about to end. What could have caused something so ferocious to give up? To just accept death without even trying to fight back? It didn’t make sense, and though Victor didn’t want to admit it he was curious.

He went to bed early that night, telling himself that it didn’t matter. Tomorrow he would talk to the village head and that would be the end of it. But when the following morning brought with it clear, sunny skies he found himself marching through the forest, Makkachin at his side. He told himself he was just going to check and make sure the dragon was still there, that it wouldn’t do any good to raise an alarm only to find that the beast had snuck away. He also told himself that the medicine and extra food in his bag were an essential to anyone traveling through the forest, one never knew what might happen after all.

As they drew closer to the clearing Makkachin seemed to realize where they were going. He let out an excited bark before dashing off ahead, Victor didn’t try to stop him. He kept the pace he had been walking and soon emerged in the small clearing. Like before he had to take a moment to let his eyes adjust to the light, but when they did he immediately looked towards the base of the cliff.

The dragon was still there, sitting exactly where Victor had left it two days ago. For a long moment he just stood there, unsure of what to do. He had done what he set out to do, had seen that the beast was still there, so then why wasn’t he moving? Makkachin was at the dragon’s side, and even from where he stood Victor could hear his soft whining as he nosed the creature’s cheek. The dragon didn’t move.

Victor however, finally did. His feet carried him forward, completely ignoring the voice in his head telling him to turn around and go back to the village. He stopped in front of it, but still the beast didn‘t move. Its head was slumped forward on its chest, and for a moment Victor thought it was dead, but then he noticed the slight rise and fall of its chest. Alive, but barely.

The dragon was a mess. It was covered from head to toe in mud that was just starting to dry. Its hair was matted, and some of the feathers of its wings were out of place. One of the wings was drawn around its owner’s body in a meek attempt of protection while the other was folded behind the creature’s back. Victor wondered if it was injured. His gaze shifted down to the arrow wound. It wasn’t bleeding, but the skin around it was very red. He knelt down to get a closer look. It didn’t look infected, but he had no doubt it hurt like hell. His gaze lifted to look at the creature’s face, though it was mostly hidden by dark hair. Without thinking about what he was doing he lifted a hand and brushed a few strands out of the way. The creature looked even younger than it had the other day, Victor wondered if its appearance in this form was a reflection of its true age or if it could choose to look however it wanted. Makkachin let out another whine and again tried to rouse the creature by nosing its cheek.

This time it worked. The creature let out the smallest of noises as its face scrunched up in discomfort, Victor yanked his hand back as if it had been burned. He watched silently as the creature shifted, seeming to fight between waking up or remaining asleep. Eventually it slowly opened its eyes, the simple task looking as if it took great effort. It didn’t notice him right away, and Victor didn’t go out of his way to make himself known. Makkachin didn’t have the same restraint. Seeing the creature awake he let out a happy bark, making the creature jump, before launching himself at the creature and lathering its face with affectionate licks. The creature made a noise that was both startled and pained before bringing its hands up to try and push the over-excited dog away. Its attempts were futile. It barely had the strength to lift its arms let alone push away a fully grown dog with the energy of a puppy.

Makkachin however was well trained. When he felt the creature pushing on him he ceased his assault and took a step back, his tongue lolling to one side of his mouth. The creature blinked at him slowly, its head tilted to the side slightly in confusion. Victor watched as that look quickly morphed into one of shocked recognition. Its body went rigid, then slowly, almost reluctantly, the creature turned its head towards him. Their eyes met, and Victor could see the creature’s breath catch in its chest. Its eyes were wide with shock and fear, and Victor once again found himself marveling at how stunning those eyes were. He quickly pushed that thought from his mind.

As if suddenly remembering it could do so the creature moved, or tried to at least. It tried to scramble backwards away from him, but the cliff wall at its back kept it from going anywhere. Realizing it was trapped the creature glanced around frantically before picking up a large rock and raising it threateningly, or as threateningly as it could while panting from the exertion. Victor glanced at the rock before looking back at the creature, he couldn’t help the small smirk that played at his lips.

“Seems you have some fight left in you after all,” he said, his tone one of mild amusement. “However I think we both know that if I was going to do anything to you I would have by now.”

The creature’s grip on the rock tightened, but it gave no indication as to whether or not it had actually understood him. Victor considered the creature for a moment before looking down at the arrow in its side. There was the slightest hint of fresh blood, no doubt brought about by the creature’s sudden movement. Getting the arrow out was not going to be easy.

“That’s getting bad.”

He spared a glance at the creature, looking to see if it had followed his gaze, but the creatures eyes were firmly fixed on him. Not that he was at all surprised, he wouldn’t have risked looking away either. Looking back at the arrow he focused on what he needed to do before he changed his mind. Shifting a bit closer he reached towards it, the first thing he needed to do was break the shaft. But before he could get his hands on it however the creature jerked away, dropping the rock as it tried desperately to get away from him. Victor looked at it.

“Hold still,” he snapped. “I can’t get it out with you flailing around like that and you’re only going to make it worse.”

The dragon froze. It furrowed its brow as it fixed him with a quizzical, distrusting look. It was a look that suggested something, but he had to be sure.

“Can you understand me?”

At first it didn’t move, simply kept its gazed fixed on Victor as if it were trying to puzzle him out. Which Victor suspected it was. Then after a few tense seconds that seemed to stretched on forever it gave a nod so small Victor would have missed it had he not been watching for it. It could understand him, that was going to make things a little easier.

“The arrow doesn’t look like it went too deep, I should be able to get it out. Will you let me?”

Another long paused, followed by another small nod. Victor shifted closer again, slowly reached his hands out, and took hold of the shaft. Needing to break off as much as possible he gripped the head of the shaft low, his hand pressing against the dragon’s skin. He was surprised at how cold the dragon’s skin was against his own, but then reminded himself that the creature had been out in the rain for two days. That thought gave him paused and he looked up to the dragon’s face again. Now that he was paying attention he could see the slight tint of blue to the dragon’s lips, a sharp contrast to its almost eerily pale skin. It hadn’t looked like that two days ago. 

Eventually realizing it was being stared at the dragon looked at him and tilted its head to the side quizzically. Victor quickly looked away and turned his attention back to what he was supposed to be doing. Keeping the end closest to the dragon’s body as steady as he could he began to bend the rest of the shaft. He heard a sharp intake of breath from the dragon but didn’t stop. Applying more pressure, he heard the shaft start to crack before finally breaking off with a snap. His other hand jerked slightly when the pieces separated, jostling the end of the arrow still in the dragon’s body and causing it to wince. Now came the hard part.

Setting the broken arrow aside he went to his belt for his knife and felt the dragon’s body go tense under the hand he still had pressed against it. He looked up to see that the fear had once again returned to the dragon’s eyes as it stared at his hip and didn’t miss when its hand twitched towards the rock it had dropped. He considered a moment then released the hilt and pulled his hand away to hover a few inches from it.

“I need it to get the head out.”

The dragon’s eyes flicked to him briefly then went back to the knife, Victor could see the conflict raging behind those eyes, torn between trusting him and letting him draw the knife or refusing and pushing him away. For a moment he thought it was going to do the later and was coming up with multiple reasons against that action when he saw the tension slowly ease out of the dragon’s shoulders. He watched as the dragon closed it eyes, took a few calming breaths, then opened its eyes and fixed him with a hard stare. Victor felt his breath catch in his throat as he met the dragon’s gaze, the look it gave him unlike any he had seen from the beast so far. Was he finally getting a glimpse of the dragon’s true nature?

They remained like that for a while, neither moving, barely breathing. Then the dragon seemed to relax and gave a single nod. Victor let out the breath he hadn’t realized he was holding before returning the nod. He put his hand to his knife once again, slipping it from its sheath and brought it towards the arrow wound. Letting the tip hover just over the wound he looked up at the dragon.

“This is going to hurt, but try to keep as still as you can.”

The dragon nodded and Victor looked back down at the wound. He gripped what was left of the shaft with his free hand before carefully easing the tip of his knife into the hole. The dragon jerked, Victor paused and glanced up. The dragon’s face was screwed up in pain, but when it noticed him looking at it it nodded for him to continue. He looked back down, waited another moment, and then slowly twisted the blade, trying to get it positioned under the tip of the arrow. The dragon hissed in pain, its fingers digging into the ground, but it managed to keep still as Victor had instructed. Makkachin brushed his nose against the side of the dragon’s face in an attempt to comfort it.

It took several minutes, more blood was coming from the wound making it hard to keep a grip on the splintered piece of the shaft, but eventually he was able to extract the tip. He immediately dropped it and his knife then went to his bag and pulled out a rag that he quickly pressed to the now open wound. As he applied pressure to try and stop the bleeding he looked up at the dragon. Its eyes were closed with its head leaning back against the rocks of the cliff wall while its chest rose and fell in short breaths. He looked back down and lifted the quickly reddening rag to look at the wound. The bleeding had slowed, that was good. He pug the rag back in place and looked up at the dragon again.

“Can you hold that there?”

The dragon opened its eyes and looked at him before looking down at the rag he had pressed against its side. After a moment it nodded and lifted its hand, placing it over the rag when Victor moved his. Victor stood and wend over to the nearby stream, washing his hands off before going back over and kneeling in front of the dragon once again. He rooted through his bag and pulled out a couple more rags, a flask of water, a bottle of rubbing alcohol, and some bandages. When he reached a hand towards the rag on its side the dragon moved its hand to allow him to remove it. Setting the soiled rag aside he reached for a clean one as well as the flask. He twisted the top off and poured some of it over the wound, the dragon jumped and gave a small shiver as the cold water ran along its skin. Victor felt his lips twitch in an attempted smile but held it back.

He spent several minutes carefully cleaning the wound, using more water when needed to wipe away both fresh and dried blood and being mindful not to press too hard. The last thing he wanted to do was cause the wound to start bleeding again. Once satisfied he set that rag aside to pick up a third as well as the bottle of rubbing alcohol. With another warning that what he was about to do would hurt he pulled the cork from the bottle and poured some of the liquid directly on to the wound. The dragon’s hiss of pain mixed with the sizzling of the alcohol as it worked to sterilize the wound. Victor waited for the sound to stop before pouring a bit more over the wound. Two more times he did this before deeming it good enough and popped the cork back into the bottle. He used the third rag to wipe away some of the access alcohol before folding it and placing it over the wound. Instructing the dragon to hold it there, he picked up the roll of bandages and began wrapping them around its torso to hold the rag in place.

It was at this point that he finally wondered just what the hell he was doing. He had shot this dragon _down._ Had been content on just leaving it out here to die or to bring an angry mob of villagers to put it out of its misery. So why in the world had he just spent the last half hour tending to it? He tried to tell himself it was a spur of the moment decision, that he wasn’t thinking clearly and caved when he saw how pathetic it looked. But he knew it was a lie the moment the thought entered his head. He couldn’t brush it off as a random action when he had specifically packed the bandages he ordinarily didn’t, had packed food he knew he wasn’t going to need. No, he knew when he woke up this morning, maybe even when he went to bed last night that he was going to do this. He just didn’t know _why._ And that irritated him to no end.

He kept his gaze down long after he had finished wrapping the bandage and tied it off as he tried to make sense of his actions, but no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t come up with a reason behind them. Maybe he was just an idiot. Eventually he lifted his gaze to look at the dragon, and was startled to find those stunning brown/gold eyes staring right at him. It wasn’t the same hard stare it had given him before, this one was… calculating, inquisitive. No doubt it was wondering the same thing he was. That was _not_ a conversation he was about to try and have.

Tearing his eyes away he began to haphazardly toss things back into his bag. Makkachin nuzzled his head into the dragon’s neck, desperate for some attention now that things seemed settled. The dragon looked at the dog then back at Victor, when he didn’t make any indication against it the dragon slowly lifted a hand and put it to the side of Makkachin’s head. The dog immediately leaned into the touch and gave a happy bark before licking the dragon’s cheek. Victor watched out of the corner of his eyes and paused in what he was doing when he saw a smile spread across the dragons face. It was small and clearly tired, but it was genuine, affectionate even. For a moment he could almost forget that this… being before him wasn’t actually a regular human like him and not some beast in disguise. He wasn’t sure how to feel about that.

As if sensing his eyes the dragon looked over, their eyes meeting once more. The smile remained a moment longer before slowly fading, as if knowing the sight made Victor uncertain. The dragon was the one to eventually break the gaze this time, looking down at the ground while keeping its hand entwined in Makkachin’s curly fur. Victor dropped his eyes to his bag, considering it a moment before reaching in and pulling out a carefully wrapped bundle and thrusting it out towards the dragon. The dragon looked at it startled before looking at Victor again. When Victor didn’t say anything it looked back at the bundle, hesitating, before lifting its free hand to take it. Once out of his hand Victor went back to repacking his bag. The dragon looked between him and the bundle a couple times before carefully unwrapping it, its eyes went wide.

“You probably haven’t eaten in the last few days. It’s not much but…”

He trailed off then stood and walked back over to the stream to wash out the rag he had used to clean the dragon’s wound. When he came back the bundle—containing a small assortment of dried meats, nuts, and berries—was sitting untouched in the dragon’s lap. Victor tilted his head to the side before looking at the dragon.

“If you don’t want it I can take it back.”

The dragon jumped and looked at him then back down at the food in its lap. It quickly picked up a piece of dried meat and took a bite, its face lighting up as it chewed. It didn’t take long after that for it to devour the rest of the bundle’s contents. As the dragon ate Victor finished gathering up his things, which at this point was just his knife. He picked it up and wiped it off with the rag he had just washed out in the river, not missing the dragon pausing when he picked it up, and slipped it back into its sheath. Makkachin nosed at the dragon’s meal, and Victor was about to scold him when the dragon offered the dog a piece of meat with a smile. Makkachin took it and chewed happily.

When it finished eating the dragon looked up at Victor, holding out the cloth the rations had been wrapped in and offered him a careful smile. Victor took the cloth, their fingers brushing slightly, and tucked it back into his bag. The two stared at each other for a long time. The longer they stared, the longer Victor felt he should say something, but he had no idea what. Finally when the silence had stretched out for longer than was comfortable he spoke, though not to the dragon.

“We’re going home Makka.”

He turned away, though not before seeing the dragon’s smile fade. He started to walk, and was glad when Makkachin came to him without a fuss this time. Though after only a few steps he paused. He stood there a moment then before he could think about what he was doing he turned and went back to the dragon. The dragon looked up at him, its body tense. Without a word Victor unfastened his cloak and deposited it on to the dragon’s lap before turning away again and hurrying towards the edge of the clearing. Before slipping back into the forest he glanced over his shoulder. The dragon had taken the cloak and draped it over itself like a blanket. Its eyes were closed and its head was resting back against the cliff wall behind it. Victor watched it for a few moments more before disappearing amongst the trees.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Victor wants to stay away, _tries_ to stay away, but he can't help but be drawn back to the unusual dragon.

For the next few days Victor tried to put the dragon out of his mind, reasoning it was better to forget about it and move on with his life than to dwell on it. But even without Makkachin whining and scratching at the door every morning he would catch himself thinking of those stunning brown/gold eyes. How they sparkled when the light hit them and rendered Victor unable to look away, how they had looked at him with such fear and later curiosity. And then once he was thinking of the dragon’s eyes he would think of the dragon’s smile, small and timid, but genuine. A gesture of thanks for what Victor had done. He often threw something when he caught himself in these thoughts. 

_Why_ had he helped that dragon? What had compelled him to take pity on the one creature he hated the most? It didn’t make any sense! And the longer he went without an answer the more frustrated he became. He hadn’t gone to the village head, after all how could he after he had made the effort to save the beast? Taking anyone out there now would only raise questions, questions he had no logical answers to, questions he didn’t —even want to _think_ about. The only thing he wanted to do was forget the whole thing had happened and move on.

But when the third day came along, and Makkachin was giving him a forlorn look from the door, he caved. With a sigh he crossed over to the dog and kneeled down, scratching him behind both ears.

“You’re really that worried about him huh?” Makkachin gave a light woof and licked his nose, Victor couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped his lips. “All right you win.”

He stood and went over to the table where his bag was sitting, flipping it open he moved around, gathering things and tucking them inside. Makkachin seemed to realize what was happening because he began running around, barking excitedly. Victor paused what he was doing a moment to watch in amusement, it always amazed him how much energy the dog had considering his age. Shaking his head he turned his attention back to his task. He packed a small assortment of food—enough to last a few days—and a canteen of water, the bottle of rubbing alcohol and some fresh bandaged made it into the bag as well. If he was going to do this he might as well cover all the basics. After considering a moment he also grabbed a heavy blanket. Once he had everything together him and Makkachin made their way out.

Victor didn’t make a beeline for the clearing like he had the other day, instead he took his time to enjoy the serenity of the forest around him. Most of the tenseness he had felt the last few days had finally faded, returning the area to something that resembled normalcy. Birds were singing in the trees overhead, and he would occasionally hear the rustle of something scampering away as he walked by.

He decided to check his traps, having not bothered with them since the night he had seen the dragon. With everything that had happened the last few days he had actually forgotten about him. All of his traps were still empty, though a couple had been disturbed, probably from the storm. He reset these quickly enough before getting himself on the path that would lead him to the small clearing.

Makkachin was beside himself with excitement. He would run on ahead a distance, then run back to Victor, then run off again as if he were urging Victor to hurry up. It was a good thing he wasn’t actively trying to hunt, Makkachin’s barks were enough to alert the entire forest they were there and ensured nothing came anywhere near them. It was something that ordinarily would have annoyed Victor, but today he could only find himself amused by the dog’s antics. He couldn’t remember the last time he had seen Makkachin like this.

Like before, as they got closer Makkachin dashed off towards the clearing first. Victor arrived shortly after and his eyes went immediately to the base of the cliff. The cloak he had left behind was lying on the ground—Makkachin was sniffing at it—but the dragon was gone. Victor blinked and took a few steps further in, his brow furrowing. He wouldn’t say he was disappointed to see the dragon gone, but he certainly felt something, confusion maybe? That seemed to make the most sense. The dragon had still been in pretty bad shape when Victor had left it, and he couldn’t imagine it had regained enough strength to venture out after only three days. Makkachin began sniffing the ground around the cloak and for a moment Victor considered going to look for it. The dragon’s scent would be all over his cloak so it would be easy for Makkachin to track.

But then a voice of reason spoke up at the back of his head. Why _should_ he go looking for it? It wasn’t like he had any sort of responsibility to look after it, and now that it was gone things could go back to the way they were and he could forget any of this had ever happened. That was what he had wanted, right?

With a sigh he raised a hand to his mouth to call Makkachin to him so they could go home when a small splash caught his attention. He rounded on the sound, nocking an arrow and drawing the string out of instinct as he did so. It took one breath, two, before his eyes focused on what had made the sound and he relaxed, lowering his bow.

The dragon was kneeling by the small stream, its hands resting just under the water’s surface. Victor couldn’t see its face, but its posture suggested it was watching the water intently and seemed oblivious to the fact that it was no longer alone, an impressive feat considering the racket Makkachin had been making. For now he decided to keep it that way and simply watched, curious as to what it was doing. The dragon sat motionless for several breaths then suddenly lunged forward, splashing water up into its face, Victor realized at once. It was trying to catch something.

He watched at the dragons shoulders rose and fell quickly in a huff before it wiped the water away with the swipe of an arm. Looking at the water, it leaned forward to try again, but was startled by a sudden loud bark. Whipping its head around the dragon had no time to prepare itself before it was tackled into the stream by Makkachin. Well whatever it had been trying to catch was certainly gone now. The dragon brought its arms up as Makkachin enthusiastically licked every inch of its face he could reach. After a few attempts the dragon managed to wrestle the dog away and hold him at arm’s length. Its eyes were wide with shock as it started at Makkachin in utter confusion. After a moment however the look softened to one of recognition and the dragons face broke out in a wide smile. It released him and immediately began scratching the dog behind the ears, Makkachin leaned eagerly into the touch.

Victor watched the scene for several minutes, unaware of the smile that had spread across his own features, before finally deciding to approach. He was almost to the stream before the dragon seemed to realize what Makkachin’s presence there meant and looked over. The smile on its face fell a little. It didn’t fade completely, but it wasn’t nearly as bright as it had been. Now it was more subdued and hesitant, full of uncertainty. Victor was hardly surprised, the dragon had every reason to be unsure about him, though it hadn’t immediately shied away upon seeing him so he supposed that was something. Makkachin gave its cheek a sudden lick, drawing its attention back to him, though Victor could see that the dragon was watching him out of the corner of it eye. He pretended not to notice.

“Seems Makkachin has taken quite a liking to you.”

The dragon looked at him again then looked down. Victor tilted his head to the side, curious about the action, but after a moment he shook head deciding not to dwell on it.

“I brought more food if you’re hungry.” The dragon’s head snapped back up. Victor guessed it hadn’t eaten since the last time he had been here. “Why don’t you get out of there and dry off? I’ll check your bandages too.”

The dragon stared at him as if he had grown a second head and didn’t move. To accentuate his point Victor lifted his bag and gave it a small shake. The dragon followed his movements, but continued to remain where it was, its head tilted to the side in silent contemplation. The two stayed as they were for several minutes, Victor waiting patiently, when the silence was suddenly broken by the dragon’s stomach as it let out a particularly loud growl. Victor blinked. The dragon’s eyes went wide and it quickly ducked its head in… embarrassment? He thought he was seeing things but there was no mistaking it, the dragon was completely embarrassed. Victor fought back the laugh that threatened to bubble out from his chest, though he couldn’t suppress the smile that played at his lips.

“Well I guess we have our answer.”

The dragon looked up at him again then quickly looked away, Victor didn’t miss the slight color in its cheeks, and he was once again struck by just how… human it seemed. That the only thing that seemed to set them apart were the large wings protruding from the dragons back. If not for those well, Victor would have never known that there was anything off about the injured young man he had stumbled upon a few days ago. He wasn’t sure how to feel about that.

The sound of water shifting drew him out of his head. The dragon was finally getting to its feet but was still pointedly not looking at Victor as it stepped out of the stream. Victor didn’t comment on that and instead took his first real good look at him.

The dragon was shorter than him, though not by much, and while there was definite muscle tone to his body he was leaner than Victor was. Of course part of that could probably be attributed to the fact that he hadn’t eaten in three days. Best to take care of that.

Without a word he turned and made his way back to the base of the cliff, glancing over his shoulder once to make sure the dragon was following him. When they reached the spot where the dragon had been sitting Victor gestured for him to sit down and instructed him to use the discarded cloak to dry off. While the dragon did that Victor went to his bag. The blanket was draped over the top, so he removed it and set it aside for now to open the flap and remove one of the wrapped bundles of rations, the bandages, and the bottle of rubbing alcohol. Once the dragon was passably draw he handed him the bundle of rations before setting to work on his bandages. 

The wound was healing nicely, even after only a few days. If he had to guess in a week it would be almost completely healed, assuming of course the dragon didn’t have some sort of regenerative properties that would allow him to heal faster. Victor wouldn’t be surprised if he did. It didn’t take him long to change the bandages, and when he was finished he tucked everything away before pulling out the other ration bundles and the canteen of water and setting them beside the dragon. The dragon looked at them a moment before looking at him and tilting his head quizzically.

“There’s enough there to last you a few days,” he explained. “So long as you eat it conservatively.”

The dragon looked down at the half eaten bundle in his lap. He seemed to consider it a moment before wrapping it back up and setting it aside. Makkachin, who had been sitting near him, sniffed at it then moved closer, pushing his way under the dragons arm and settling in close to the side of his body. The dragon looked at him a bit startled, but then his face softened and he scratched the dog behind the ears. Makkachin let out a huff of approval.

Realizing he wasn’t going to get his dog back any time soon Victor decided to busy himself with something. He got to his feet, saying he would be back in a bit, then disappeared back into the forest. When he returned ten minutes later his arms were loaded with an assortment of large branches and twigs. Makkachin looked quite content stretched out across the dragon’s lap while the dragon idly stroked his back. He looked up when Victor walked back over before shifting his gaze to the bundle of sticks in his arms, he raised a curious eyebrow. Victor said nothing as he bent down to deposit the load on to the ground. Arms free, he began to move around the area, gathering large rocks and arranging them into a circle where he placed some of the thicker branches after breaking them into smaller pieces. He kept quiet as he worked, the dragon watched him intently, and soon enough his efforts were rewarded with a small, but still warming fire. The dragon’s eyes widened and he quickly scooted closer to it, jostling a sleeping Makkachin who let out a disgruntled huff. The dragon gave him an apologetic scratch before holding his hands out towards the fire, closing his eyes as the warmth washed over him. After a few minutes he opened his eyes and offered Victor a smile that could rival the warmth of the fire between them.

Victor was transfixed. The smile alone was enough to have him staring, so soft and genuine, something he would not think capable of a creature that was supposed to be so fearsome. But it was the dragon’s eyes that really caught his attention. Already stunning on their own, the light of the fire reflected off them in such a way that was almost otherworldly. No longer brown/gold, but a bright, glowing red that should have been unnerving but Victor found was anything but. They were gentle, bordering on innocent, certainly not the eyes of a vicious killer. The longer he stared the more he found he didn’t want to look away.

He’s different.

The thought came out of nowhere, but it was enough to bring him back to his senses. He blinked once, twice, then abruptly got to his feet, the dragon looked at him startled.

“We’re going Makka,” he said, then without so much as a glance at the dragon he turned and strode off. A moment or two later he heard Makkachin padding behind him.

What was wrong with him? It was bad enough he had saved the dragon, even fed him in an attempt to get his strength back, but to have such a thought… It didn’t matter how soft his eyes were, how genuine his smile, a dragon was still a dragon. They were fierce, powerful and dangerous. The only reason this one seemed different was because he was injured, once he recovered he would be just like the rest. He repeated that thought over and over in his mind, but try as he might there was a part of his brain he just couldn’t convince. The part that remembered the fear in the dragon’s eyes the first time he had seen Victor, and how the dragon hadn’t once made any attempt to harm him and had instead shied away any time he came near. He didn’t count the incident with the rock, that had been an act of defense not bloodlust. 

He let out a long sigh, this had all become such a mess and he didn’t know what to do anymore. It wasn’t lost on him that at some point he had made to shift to thinking of the dragon as “he” rather than “it”, another attempt by his brain to try and humanize the beast and now that he was aware of it switching back just seemed wrong. That only frustrated him more. Dragons were supposed to be the enemy, and for the last twenty years of his life he had always viewed them as such. Still viewed them as such. But this dragon… he felt drawn to him. He wanted to get closer, to find out if this dragon’s seemingly timid demeanor was as genuine as it seemed or if it was all just an act of self-preservation. It wouldn’t be the first time he had seen a creature do something similar, act small and helpless in the hope of gaining sympathy long enough to run away. But somehow that didn’t seem fitting. The fear he had seen in the dragons eyes… the acceptance when he thought he was going to die…

With another sigh he pushed the thoughts from his mind, he really needed to stop thinking about this. The dragon was healing, and pretty soon it would be well enough to leave and then he could put this whole crazy mess behind him. He just had to hope that the dragon actually _would_ leave.

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

Over the next few days Victor tried to keep himself busy and his mind off the dragon. After returning home from his last visit he had told himself he wasn’t going back, if he kept pampering the beast it would never leave. Fortunately plenty of distractions presented themselves.

A couple of his traps finally bore fruit, which meant skinning and preserving the meat. Some of it he cut into strips to dry for rations—he needed to start replenishing his stock after all—while the rest he either smoked or packed in salt to help it keep longer. He went hunting, but still didn’t come across anything bigger than a squirrel. That was starting to become frustrating. Another day he went into town to stock up on things he was running low on, stopping to chat with anyone that called out to him, and then as the day fell into evening he found himself in the tavern for a few drinks before stumbling his way home and collapsing into bed.

Every time he got ready to go out Makkachin would perk up and immediately go to the door, but Victor would tell the dog to stay before venturing out alone. He hated to do it, but he knew how excitable Makkachin was and knew that given half a chance he would take off for the clearing whether Victor told him to or not. By the fourth day Makkachin finally got the message and when Victor readied himself to go out—he decided to go fishing that day—the solemn pooch barely inclined his head towards his master. For a moment Victor considered bringing him along but decided against it. Taking him now would only get his hopes up, plus fishing with Makkachin around rarely ended with him catching anything. So he gave the dog a brief scratch behind the ears before heading out.

It was late afternoon now. Satisfied with his catch Victor decided it was time to head home. He picked his way through the trees, eyes constantly scanning the area around him in the small hopes that he would come across a wild boar or even a deer to bring home as well. To give himself a slightly better chance of this he took a longer way back, sometimes veering off course completely. It didn’t take long for him to deem his efforts a lost cause and eventually focused on simply getting home.

He paused for a moment to gain his bearings, glancing around to get a sense of where he was when something caught his eye. A set of three horizontal lines carved into a tree a few feet from him. Such a thing would ordinarily be out of place, but Victor knew these lines, he had been the one to carve them almost a week ago after all. He walked over to the tree, brushing his fingers against the lines. Had he really gone out so far? It wasn’t the exact spot where he had first seen the dragon, but he was close. If he remembered correctly it was just up ahead, and then further along that way was…

His feet were carrying him away before he was fully aware of it, walking quickly and with purpose. It wasn’t long before the trees circling the clearing came into view, and it was only when he reached out to push aside the familiar branches that he caught himself and stopped. What was he doing? He was supposed to be forgetting about all this, moving on. He almost talked himself into turning right around and marching home, but then that voice in the back of his head spoke up. He was already here, so might as well take a peek right?

Sighing he stepped closer to the branches, but rather than pushing them aside to walk through he moved them just enough so that he could see into the clearing. The dragon was still there, not that he had really expected him not to be, but something seemed… off. He was sitting in the same spot, the fire Victor had built had nearly burnt out, mostly just hot coals now. His knees were drawn close to his chest, his arms wrapped around them, with his eyes focused on the ground. The blanket Victor had brought was still lying where he had left it completely untouched. Why hadn’t he used it? The last few nights had been cold and the days hadn’t been much warmer, surely he was freezing especially since the fire had nearly burned out.

Victor focused on the dragon, more specifically on his eyes. He couldn’t see them very well, so he could be mistaken, but they looked sad. Almost dejected. It was a look he wasn’t expecting. He told himself to leave it at that, to turn around and go home, but he never had been very good at listening not even to himself. So without a second thought he pushed the branches aside, purposely making enough noise as possible, and stepped into the clearing.

His entrance had the desired effect. The dragon jumped, his head snapping up in the direction of the sudden sound. His eyes fell on Victor, and for a moment they lit up and a smile started to form on his lips. But then the next moment it was gone and his eyes went dull, he lowered them to the ground again. Strange. Victor stood where he was, and once again he told himself to leave, but then his feet were carrying him forward. When he got closer the dragon drew his knees closer to himself which made Victor pause. Did the dragon not want him here? He hadn’t objected the last time Victor had been there, but now he was drawing in on himself, closing himself off. That was even more strange.

He cast his gaze around, searching for something to say, and eventually landed on the fire. He stared at it for several moments before speaking.

“The fire is almost out, aren’t you cold?”

There was hesitation, then the dragon shook his head. Definitely cold.

“I’ll go get some more wood.”

The dragon shook his head again more forcefully this time, Victor tilted his head to the side in confusion. He looked around again, his eyes falling on something else.

“How about the blanket at least? I left it for you you know.”

The dragon shook his head again and wrapped his arms tighter around his knees, now Victor was really baffled. He stood watching the dragon, unsure of what to do, and even more unsure why he was so worried about it. If he wasn’t wanted there then he could leave and that would be that. He hadn’t planned on coming back anyway, had told himself multiple times to leave once he got there. And yet he couldn’t bring himself to move. He knew he hadn’t imagined the smile on the dragon’s face or the way his eyes lit up when he had seen Victor, so why was he acting so distant? Any why did he _care?_ It was stupid, ridiculous, he knew that. And yet…

“I’m getting more wood,” he stated firmly, then disappeared back into the forest before the dragon could react.

When he returned there was a part of him that expected the dragon to be gone, but he was still there, exactly as he had been before Victor left. Victor walked back over and knelt down opposite of the fire from him, dumping the load of sticks on to the ground beside it. He began feeding them into the fire until it slowly crackled back to life. Plopping on to the ground properly he poked around at the fire for something to do. Eventually he glanced over at the dragon, whose eyes were now focused intently on the fire rather than the ground. Like before they shone red as the light from the flames danced off them and Victor found he had to force himself to look away. Glancing around, his eyes fell on a small pile of white cloth near the dragon. He stared at it a moment before recognition dawned on him.

“You’re probably sick of rations.” The dragon jumped and finally looked at him, eyes slightly wide. Victor untied the string of fish from his belt and held them up. “How about a real dinner?”

He watched as the dragon’s eyes shifted to the fish, could see the hunger there as his mouth fell open slightly. But then as if catching himself he snapped his mouth shut and dipped his head so that half his face was hidden behind his knees. His arms tightened further around his legs. Victor sighed, but wasn’t going to be deterred. He grabbed two longer sticks from the pile he had brought back. After breaking off the smaller branches he used his knife the scrape away the bark and bring the sticks to sharp points. Setting them aside, he removed four fish from the string, quickly cleaned them, and skewered them two each to a stick. He was aware of the dragon watching him, but every time he would glance over the dragon would quickly look away. Once the fish were secure he shifted to his knees, moving closer to the fire the wedging the ends of the stick between the rocks surrounding the flames so that they were angled above them.

Soon the smell of cooking fish filled the area, Victor occasionally turning the sticks so they wouldn’t burn. He was in the process of doing just that when a loud grumbling sound came from across the fire. Victor blinked and looked up to see the dragon completely burying his face into his knees. He couldn’t help it, he laughed. It was a loud, bark of a laugh that caught him off guard, the dragon peeked at him over his knees.

“Well I suppose these are done enough.”

He extracted one of the sticks and moved over to where the dragon was sitting, holding it out.

“Here.”

The dragon looked at it, and though Victor could tell he wanted to he didn’t move to take it. Victor frowned.

“What’s wrong?” When the dragon still didn’t move he continued. “You’re hungry aren’t you? Go on, take it.”

The dragon looked at the fish, then Victor, then back at the fish. For a moment Victor thought he was going to take the stick, but then he lowered his gaze to the ground. Now Victor was even more confused. The dragon was clearly hungry, and he hadn’t refused any other time Victor had given him food, so why suddenly refuse now? He studied the dragon for a few moments before sighing and lowering the stick.

“Do you not want me here?”

The dragon tensed. He shifted as if he were uncomfortable, but gave no indication one way or the other towards Victor’s question. Victor set the stick with the fish on to the rocks around the fire.

“Do you want me to leave?”

The dragon shifted again and ducked his head into his shoulders. Victor got the impression the dragon didn’t know _what_ he wanted. He considered reaching out for him and quickly thought better of it. If the dragon didn’t want him around then this was his chance to walk away guilt free, though why he would feel guilty in the first place he didn’t know. He waited another minute for the dragon to do something, and when he didn’t Victor sighed and got to his feet. To his surprise the dragon looked up

“Make sure you eat those,” he nodded to the fish.

The dragon glanced at them then looked back at him. Victor looked at him a moment longer then turned and made his way back towards the trees for what he intended to be the final time. He was almost to them when-

“St-stay.”

Victor froze. The voice came out of nowhere. It was meek, and sounded raw from disuse, but there was no mistaking that it was there. Victor stood still for a long time before slowly, ever so slowly, turning back around. The dragon was sitting on his knees now, his eyes, shy and timid, where focused directly on Victor. Victor found he could only stare, sure he was mistaken. Surely he hadn’t just heard-

The dragon lowered his gaze a moment, and when he looked back up the shyness had been replaced with a fierce certainty.

“I… I want you to stay.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The dragon continues to surprise him, in more ways than one.

If someone were to ask Victor later how he was feeling at this moment he wasn’t entirely sure he would be able to answer. Shocked, dumbfounded, bewildered, just about every form of surprise one could think of were duking it out for dominance in his head as he stared at the dragon. Denial quickly swooped into the mix, telling him there was no way the dragon had just spoken to him. The stress from the last few days was finally getting to him, making him hear things, that’s all it was. It made more sense than the alternative anyway, and yet there was that nagging little voice in the back of his head telling him to check. To make one hundred percent sure. It was that little voice that caused the next words to come out of his mouth before he could stop them.

“Did… Did you just… talk?”

He mentally kicked himself the moment to words were out, dragons didn’t talk. At least not in any manner that humans could understand. It was believed that since dragons were far more intelligent than average creatures they had their own language that they used to communicate with each other. Of course, no one had ever heard this supposed dragon language so there was no solid proof of its existence. It wasn’t an impossible idea, certainly more believable than a dragon speaking in the common tongue of humans at least. _That_ idea seemed far too incredible.

The dragon fidgeted, his shoulders shifting uncomfortably as he looked towards the ground. A beat passed, two, and then-

“Y-yes…”

It was as if everything had stopped. The small stream was silent, the wind was still, even the birds had stopped singing. It was as if him and the dragon were the only things in existence. For all he knew at the moment they were.

“You… can talk…” It wasn’t a question. He hoped that saying it out loud would make it more real. The dragon took in a breath and let it out slowly, Victor watched his shoulder rise and fall, before lifting his gaze.

“Yes.”

Victor let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. Slowly, ever so slowly, his awareness of everything else returned to him, though his attention remained solely on the dragon. The initial shock was fading, but there was still plenty of bewilderment to be had. He was talking to a dragon. No, not to, that’s what he had been doing before, this was _with._ He was talking and the dragon was answering. The dragon could talk.

“You can talk.” It almost sounded less unbelievable that time. Almost. The dragon tilted his head to the side.

“Does… that surprise you?”

Victor blinked, and just like that the surprise was gone, replaced incredulity. Had the dragon really just asked that? Did he think this was some everyday occurrence? That Victor went out and chatted up dragons in his spare time?

“Of course it surprises me!” The dragon flinched at his sudden outburst. “Do you think this is normal? I’m standing here talking to- To a-”

“A dragon?” the dragon offered.

“A dragon…” Victor repeated.

It occurred to him at that moment that while he had known what he was dealing with this was the first time he had said the word “dragon” out loud. Saying it now brought on a sudden sense of disbelief that the last few days had in fact happened. He had shot down a dragon. He had found that dragon and rather than killing it had treated its wounds and fed it, essentially nursing it back to health. Now that dragon was sitting before him, speaking to him, and it had asked—what had it asked?

“You want me to stay.”

The dragon went rigid, his eyes widened in surprise like he had forgotten he had asked that of Victor. Or maybe he was surprised Victor had remembered. The dragon stared at him for a moment before lowering his gaze.

“I… You… You don’t… have to. I know… I know you don’t… like… being around me…”

The last part was said so quietly Victor almost missed it. He opened his mouth to deny it but stopped himself. Denying it wouldn’t be fair because he _had_ been avoiding coming back here in the hopes that when he did the dragon would be gone and he could pretend this had all been a crazy dream. No wonder the dragon had acted so distant when he arrived earlier. He probably assumed that once Victor left it would be days before he returned again, if he returned at all. And Victor hadn’t planned on coming back when he left this time. The dragon had seemingly made it clear he didn’t want Victor around, so when Victor had stood to leave he had been determined not to come back. But now the dragon was asking him to stay, and he wasn’t sure what to do.

If he left now, denied the dragon what he wanted maybe that would give him the incentive he needed to leave. But at the same time—despite his personal feelings—Victor found himself curious about the dragon. There were still things he wanted to know; like why he was there in the first place, if there were other dragons nearby, why he could turn into a human. If he left now he would lose any chance he had of getting answers. In the end, his feet made the decision before his head and carried him back over to the fire where he took his previously vacated seat. The dragon looked up at him in surprise when he approached and watched silently as he sat down and plucked his own stick of—now rather well done—fish from the fire. He studied them a moment then shrugged and took a bite out of the first one—it was terrible. His face screwed up in displeasure as he swallowed down the taste of char and smoke. Even Makkachin wouldn’t have eaten these, and the dog wasn’t usually picky.

A sound across from him caught his attention and he looked up to see the dragon watching him with a hand covering his mouth, Victors own fell open in surprise. The dragon was _laughing_ at him. Laughing. The dragon was laughing. Add that to the list of things he never thought he’d see in his life. The smile behind his hand was obvious, and his eyes practically sparkled with mirth. Victor had to admit, it was quite a sight. When the dragon realized he had been caught the smile fell and the light faded from his eyes. He dropped his hand quickly to his lap and looked down.

“S-sorry… I… I shouldn’t have… Sorry…”

And there it was again, that timid nervousness that the dragon had shown every other time Victor had been near him. Why was he so afraid of him? Sure Victor had shot him out of the sky, (did the dragon even know he was the one that shot him?) but he was still a _dragon._ Fiercest of all beasts, and he was once again acting like Victor was the more dangerous of the two of them.

He couldn’t help it, he laughed. It was loud, unflattering, maybe even a little manic, but it was the only thing he could do to show just how _absurd_ all of this was. The dragon’s head shot up and he looked at him completely dumbfounded, which only made Victor laugh harder. His eyes watered and his sides began to ache, he couldn’t remember the last time he had laughed this hard. Eventually he began to calm down, though he had to bite back a fresh fit of laughter when he looked at the shocked expression still on the dragon’s face. He took a few slow, deep breaths and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand.

“I needed that,” he said, and realized it was true.

He hadn’t been aware he was wound so tight, though thinking about it it was hardly a surprise considering how stressed he had been over what to do about the dragon. Granted he still had no idea what he was going to do, but for the moment it didn’t seem as important. He couldn’t explain it, but he didn’t think he had anything to worry about when it came to the dragon. Of course the dragon could simply be trying to get him to lower his guard, but it was hard to believe that when the dragon was staring at him open mouthed in the purest look of confusion he had ever seen.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you it’s just, well this whole thing is sort of crazy, isn’t it?” The dragon tilted his head to the side. Victor studied him a moment then shook his head. “Never mind. Eat your fish. Even cold they’ll taste better than these monstrosities.”

He held up his own fish for emphasis. The dragon looked at them a moment then at his own untouched ones still sitting on the rocks surrounding the fire. He picked them up, seemed to consider something, then looked at Victor. Shifting forward, he gingerly took the stick with the charred fish before pressing his own stick into his hands. Now it was Victor’s turn to be confused as the dragon moved to settle back into his spot. Catching his eye, the dragon inclined the stick of charred fish.

“I don’t mind them like this,” he said.

Victor felt the urge to argue, to say it was fine, but the dragon had already started eating, and true to his word he didn’t seem to mind the taste at all. Resigning himself to it, Victor held his new stick of fish over the fire to warm them back up before eating as well.

They spent the rest of the time in relative quiet, when they did talk it wasn’t about anything in particular. The whole thing was surreal, never in a million years would Victor have imagined himself holding a conversation with a dragon of all things, and yet he found it surprisingly easy to do. The dragon gradually seemed to be growing more comfortable around him, but Victor could still detect a sense of uncertainty coming from him. Not that Victor could blame him, he was keeping his guard up himself just in case this all turned out to be a clever ruse, but that still didn’t stop him from enjoying himself there by the fire.

When the sun began to set he was surprised to discover just how long he had been there, Makkachin was probably going stir crazy being cooped up in the house all day. With a sigh he got to his feet, stretching his arms above his head. The dragon watched him.

“It’s getting late, I should get home.”

He saw a shift in the dragon’s eyes, but before he had a chance to decipher it it was gone. The dragon nodded.

“Make sure you keep that fire going, and use that blanket I left.”

The dragon nodded again, looking like he wanted to say something. Victor waited, but when it seemed like the dragon wasn’t going to speak he gave a small shrug and turned, taking only a few steps before the dragon called out.

“U-um…”

Victor paused and looked over his shoulder. The dragon’s eyes were fixed on the ground, and Victor thought he saw a slight flush in his cheeks, although that could also be from the glow of the fire. He waited, watching as the dragon fidgeted, clearly trying to get himself to say what was on his mind.

“Will… Will you… um…” He closed his eyes tightly, his words tumbled out in a rush. “Will you come back tomorrow?”

Victor blinked and turned to fully face the dragon again, he wanted him to come back? Earlier he had acted like he wanted nothing to do with Victor, now he was asking him to return. Or was he simply wondering if Victor was planning on returning? He studied the dragon a moment—he still wasn’t looking at him—and suddenly the look he had seen in the dragon’s eyes clicked. Disappointment. The dragon was disappointed that Victor was leaving. It occurred to him then just how lonely it must be for the dragon out here by himself, and his withdrawal earlier made much more sense. Even though he had been uncomfortable, it had still probably been nice to have the presence of someone else there. But when it became apparent that presence wasn’t guaranteed the dragon had tried to distance himself. In truth Victor hadn’t really thought about whether or no he would return, but now the answer seemed obvious.

“I’ll come back, and I’ll bring Makkachin too. I’m sure he’ll be excited to see you.”

The dragon’s head snapped up, and Victor almost laughed at the look of surprise on his face. Had he been expecting Victor to say no? Probably. To be honest if the dragon had asked a few days ago he probably _would_ have said no. The two watched each other silently, until finally the dragon’s lips turned up into the warmest Victor had ever sen.

“Okay,” he said.

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

True to his word, the following day Victor returned to the clearing, Makkachin bounding through the brush and tackling the dragon when he reached him. When Victor pushed through the brush shortly after he was stopped in his tracks when a particular sound reached his ears. Laughing. The dragon was laughing. And not the muted snort of a chuckle he had aimed at Victor the day before, but pure, joyous laughter as he half-heartedly tried to push the excited dog off him. Victor was transfixed by the sound, it took everything he had to force his feet to move him forward and reluctantly rescue the dragon from his energetic pooch.

“All right Makka that’s enough, let him breath,” he said as he pulled the dog back. He looked to the dragon to inquire if he was all right but the words never made it past his lips.

The dragon was still sprawled on his back, his laugher was subsiding, but his smile was still broad and his face alight with mirth. His dark hair had been pushed back from his face due to Makkachin’s assault, making him look completely different. He was… stunning, beautiful, unlike anything Victor had ever seen before. His brain tried to provide him with reason, that he was a dragon so of course he would seem otherworldly, but still Victor couldn’t stop staring.

Eventually the dragon sat up, wiping the dog slobber from his face. His hair fell back into his face, and Victor had the urge to reach out and push it back again. The dragon looked at him, the smile on his face fading into a look of confusion as he tilted his head to the side.

“Are you okay?”

Victor started. He blinked a few times before finally focusing on the dragon properly, though it was no easy feat to do.

“Of course, though I should be asking you that. Makka didn’t hurt you, did he?”

The dragon’s gaze shifted to Makkachin, sitting contentedly at his side with his tongue lolling to one side, and offered the dog a fond smile.

“I’m okay.”

Victor’s own gaze drifted to his faithful pooch, he reached down and gave him an affectionate scratch behind the ears.

“He really is quite fond of you, I’m almost jealous.” Glancing back over, he saw the hint of embarrassment in the dragon’s cheeks and barely contained a smile. “Why don’t we take a look at your wound? It’s been a while since the last time and I’m sure it could use some fresh bandages.”

The dragon nodded and he moved over to kneel before him, Makkachin trotted over to the dragon’s other side and laid down with his head in the dragon’s lap. The dragon smiled down at him and gently stroked his back, earning him a contented sigh from Makkachin. Victor smiled at the scene before turning his attention to his task. The wound was healing nicely and he said as much, figuring it wouldn’t be long before the bandages could come off completely.

Once finished, Victor settled in beside the fire and like the day before they talked. They talked about the forest around them and the different animals Victor had encountered during his explorations, about his life as a hunter, his village, what Makkachin was possibly dreaming about as he slept against the dragon’s thigh. It was all idle chatter, but the dragon seemed excited to hear about it anyway. He was definitely more comfortable with Victor now.

As the afternoon wore on Victor eventually went out to hunt for something for them to eat. It took him almost an hour before he finally caught a couple rabbits, and he didn’t miss the look of relief that briefly passed over the dragon’s face when he returned. The dragon watched in silent fascination as he skinned and cleaned the rabbits, being careful to keep the pelts as in tact as possible. Winter was still some months off, but it never hurt to start preparing.

Unlike the disaster of the fish the day before he cooked the rabbit meat perfectly, smiling when the dragon beamed after his first bite. After that was more casual conversation, with long lulls of comfortable silence in between. There were questions Victor still wanted to ask, but he wasn’t sure if he should. Sure the dragon was more comfortable around him now, but that didn’t mean he would be willing to answer any personal questions. He looked over at the dragon, whose eyes were on Makkachin’s once again sleeping form at his side. A spot he had hardly moved from since settling there. Victor considered a moment before finally settling on a question he hoped would make a proper opening for him to ask more.

“Do you have a name?” The dragon looked at him in surprise.

“What?”

“A name. As it is the only thing I really have to call you is “dragon” and that just seems… impersonal. So, I was wondering if there was something else I could call you.”

“Oh. Um…”

The dragon looked down and bit his bottom lip, a close look at his eyes told Victor that he was debating on something internally. Victor was a little taken aback by that. He had thought that asking his name would show the dragon he was interested in learning more about him, so then why-

“Can I ask you something first?” the dragon asked suddenly. Victor nodded, but quickly realized the dragon wouldn’t be able to see it.

“Of course.”

Again, it looked as if the dragon was debating on whether or not to ask the question on his mind, and for a moment Victor thought he might back out of it. But then the dragon squared his shoulders and lifted his eyes to lock on Victor’s, and Victor felt his breath stolen away by the intensity in them.

“Why didn’t you kill me?”

Whatever question Victor had been expecting it wasn’t that. He knew the question would come up eventually and really shouldn’t have been surprised by it, but he hadn’t been expecting it to come up now. The two stared at each other for a long time, the dragon’s gaze never wavering. Finally, Victor let out a sigh as he rubbed the back of his neck.

“That’s… well…”

“You shot me down right? So why not finish me off.”

Victor looked at him in surprise. He had never mentioned that he was the one to shoot the dragon down, and the dragon hadn’t said anything about it, so he had simply assumed-

“How do you know I’m the one who shot you?”

The dragon nodded to his quiver, but his eyes never left Victor‘s face. “Your arrows have the same feathers as the one you took out of me.”

“Right… suppose I should have known you would notice…” He sighed again. “To be completely honest with you, I really don’t know why I didn’t kill you. I just… couldn’t.”

The dragon tilted his head to the side. “Couldn’t?”

“I wanted to at the time, trust me I did but… I guess… When I looked at you you just seemed so… scared. And I won’t lie, that really threw me off. All I could think was ‘How is it possible this fearsome beast is afraid of a single human?’. It didn’t make any sense. But the longer I stood there, the more my resolve wavered and in the end, I just couldn’t bring myself to kill you. Even though everything in me was screaming at me to do so.”

The hardness in the dragon’s eyes turned quizzical, calculating, as he studied Victor, no doubt looking for any sign of dishonesty. Eventually he lowered his gaze as he allowed Victor’s words to sink in. It sounded crazy now that he had said it out loud, but it was the only answer he had. He glanced to Makkachin, still peacefully sleeping at the dragon’s side, and another thought came to him.

“Plus, Makkachin likes you.” The dragon looked at him again, eyes wide. Victor smiled. “They say dogs are good judges of character, and I’ve never known Makka to like someone I didn’t so if he thinks you’re okay then you must be.”

The dragon stared at him as, his mouth open slightly in disbelief, and while Victor really couldn’t blame him he also didn’t take it back. He had done it before, if Makkachin didn’t like someone then he would steer clear, so the fact the dog was so reluctant to leave the dragon’s side had to count for something right? Victor kept his face neutral as the dragon studied him, letting him see that he meant everything he said. Finally, the dragon smiled and gave a small shake of his head.

“You’re not at all what I expected human’s to be like.”

He almost told him that he was probably a special case but decided against it, the comment did have him curious though. Just how had he expected human’s to be? The obvious answer was probably the way he had been when they first met, angry and ready to kill, but he got the feeling there was more to it than that. He would have to ask about it later.

The sun was starting to set, he like the day before couldn’t believe how quickly the time had gone by. The dragon hadn’t told him his name, but he decided not to press it figuring the dragon would tell him when he was ready. He stood and stretched his back, whistling to Makkachin to wake him and bring him to his side. The dragon looked up at him.

“You’re leaving?” This time Victor definitely caught the look of disappointment.

“Don’t worry, we’ll be back tomorrow.”

The dragon nodded and got to his feet as well. He gazed up at Victor with gentle eyes— Victor really didn’t think he would ever tire of looking at those eyes—before dropping his gaze and shifting nervously.

“Um… Th-thank you… For… Well, for everything you’ve done. And well… I… I’m not… angry that… that you shot me…”

Victor’s eyes widened in surprise, he hated to admit it, but the thought of the dragon being angry with him hadn’t even crossed his mind. He had never once felt any hostility coming from the dragon so he had never felt a reason to be concerned. And yet hearing the dragon say he wasn’t angry with Victor filled him with relief. Without stopping to think about what he was doing he reached a hand out and ruffled the dragon’s hair, causing the dragon to jump in surprise.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He pulled his hand away and the dragon lifted his head, bring his own hand up to touch where Victor’s hand had been moments before. Victor smiled then turned and made his way for the trees, calling Makkachin after him.

“Yuuri.”

Victor stopped mid-step, he blinked before looking over his shoulder.

“What?”

“You asked my name. It’s Yuuri.”

“Yuuri?”

The dragon nodded. After a moment Victor smiled.

“Okay, Yuuri. I’m Victor.”

Yuuri smiled.

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

“Um… Victor? What exactly am I supposed to do with these?”

Victor looked up from where he was busy cooking their mean by the fire. Yuuri was standing nearby, holding up the pair of trousers Victor had handed him and looking utterly confused. They were an older pair, ones Victor never wore anymore, but still in good shape. He looked at them a moment then at Yuuri.

“They’re pants,” he explained, gesturing to his own. “You wear them over your legs.”

“No I, I get that but… Why did you give these to me?”

Victor blinked. It had been a few days since the visit where Yuuri had given him his name, and since then he and Makkachin had been by every day to keep him company. Each day he grew more and more comfortable around Yuuri, and more than once had to remind himself that it was a dragon he was chatting with and not a regular human. Not that he really saw an issue with occasionally forgetting, although that had been tested hard the day before.

Victor had had some errands to take care of, so he didn’t get to the clearing until around noon. Yuuri had been kneeling in the stream when he arrived, and Victor had forgotten how to breath. Sunlight was shining down through the treetops, glistening off the water as it trailed down Yuuri’s body. Victor had been unable to move, completely transfixed by the sight of the beautiful creature before him. His eyes had trailed over every inch of his body, his face heating up as he took it all in. Makkachin barking beside him had been his wakeup call. The rest of the visit he had a hard time looking Yuuri in the eye.

Not wanting _that_ to happen again, he had brought the pants. It wasn’t a perfect solution, but he reasoned a shirtless Yuuri would be slightly less distracting than a fully naked Yuuri, or so he hoped. But he wasn’t about to say that. He quickly tried to think of something to say, but then Yuuri spoke again.

“Does it… make you uncomfortable?” he asked slowly. Victor had to bite back a laugh, uncomfortable didn’t even _begin_ to cover it.

“Doesn’t it make _you_ uncomfortable?” he instead countered. “I mean you’re the one walking around… exposed.”

Yuuri shrugged. “I’m a dragon, to me this is normal.”

Of course it would be. “Well it’s not normal for humans. Plus.” He had a sudden thought. “They’ll offer at least a little protection from the elements.”

Yuuri gave the trousers a skeptical look. It was a weak argument, Victor knew that, but it was the best he could come up with. Thankfully, Yuuri accepted it with another shrug and pulled the trousers on. Victor let out a quiet sigh.

“They’re too big.”

“Well that’s what the rope is for, here.”

Victor stood and moved over to him. Not having an extra belt, he had fed a length of rope through the belt loops. He took the two ends and tied them together tight enough to keep the pants up, but not so tight as to be uncomfortable. Once finished he took a step back to look. The fabric hung loose from his legs, the bottom cuffs pooling slightly around the back of his feet—he’d have to roll those up so Yuuri didn’t trip. They were definitely too big, but in Victor’s opinion it was better than the alternative. Yuuri looked down at himself, lifting one leg and giving it a small shake before setting it back down.

“They feel weird.”

Victor couldn’t help but laugh. “You’ll get used to them,” he said then went back to cooking their meal.

Eventually Yuuri stopped fussing with the pants and sat down to join him. Although that brought on a new wave of fidgeting as Yuuri tried to find a comfortable way to sit in the restricting fabric. 

“How do you _wear_ these things,” he complained as he shifted from one position the next.

“Are they really that uncomfortable?” Victor was starting to feel a little bad.

“Well… no not really but they’re _weird._ I don’t know how to move.”

“Like I said you’ll get used to them. But if they’re really that bad you don’t have to wear them.”

“No, I’ll wear them,” he huffed as he finally settled. “I just don’t understand why you humans feel the need to cover and restrict yourselves.”

Victor really didn’t have an answer for that so he remained silent. When their food finished cooking, some deer meat he had brought from home this time, he split it up between him, Yuuri, and Makkachin and they fell into their usual comfortable silence as they ate.

“Can I ask you something?” Victor suddenly said when they were halfway through their meal. Yuuri looked over at him.

“What is it?”

“Well… I’ve been wondering this for a while but…” Yuuri watched him expectantly. “Why are you still here?”

Yuuri frowned. He was silent a moment before speaking, his voice low. “Do you not want me here?”

Victor shook his head quickly. “No, that’s not what I meant! I just mean, well, I can’t imagine this is where you’re planning on staying for the rest of your life. It’s dangerous for you to be out here exposed like this isn’t it? Sooner or later another hunter could come across you and…”

He trailed off, not wanting to finish the thought but the look on Yuuri’s face told him he didn’t have to. It had been bothering him for a while, why Yuuri hadn’t left yet. Yes he was injured, but surely there had to be somewhere safer he could go to heal. Yuuri looked towards the fire, and for a moment Victor thought he wasn’t going to answer, but then he sighed.

“I can’t fly…” he said quietly. Victor looked at him in surprise.

“What?”

Yuuri looked to his left wing, the one Victor had noted he always kept folded close to himself. He felt unease settling into his stomach.

“That night, the night that you- That… I fell from the sky, I hurt my wing when I crashed. It’s healing but… Slowly. And I don’t know for sure that it’s healing properly. If it doesn’t…”

He didn’t finish, but he didn’t have to. So, one of his wings had been injured after all. Victor had thought as much the day he had tended to the arrow wound but hadn’t asked about it. The unease he had been feeling turned to heavy guilt. There was a chance Yuuri would never fly again and it was his fault. He knew nothing about wings, so he couldn’t even look to see if the wing was healing properly. He looked away.

“I’m sorry…”

Yuuri didn’t respond, and Victor really didn’t blame him, though the silence only made him feel worse. There had to be something he could do. Some way he could ensure Yuuri would be able to fly again. And then an idea came to him. It was potentially a crazy idea, there were probably a dozen ways it could blow up in his face, but he didn’t care. If it meant the possibility of getting Yuuri back into the air then he had to try.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Victor is determined to get Yuuri back into the air, he just hopes he doesn't regret the way he decides to do it.

“Victor! Finally coming for a visit huh? And here I was beginning to think you forgot all about me.”

Victor flinched. He had known the comment was coming, but it still stung a little.

“Hi Chris.”

Christophe Giocometti was the village doctor, and the first person Victor had made a connection with when he arrived in Torvel ten years ago. They had become fast friends. In recent years Christophe had begun to feel more like a brother than a friend—he being the only one who knew Victor’s reasons for relocating to a small, out of the way village—and Victor felt he could trust the man with anything. Or so he hoped, the favor he was about to ask was certainly going to test that.

“Sorry I haven’t been around. I’ve been… busy.”

Chris caught the pause, of course he would, and raised an eyebrow.

“That’s about the weakest excuse I’ve ever heard.” 

Victor sighed. “I know, I know. It is the truth though, sort of. I mean-” He sighed again. “I need your help with something.”

Chris’ face immediately turned serious.

“Is Makkachin sick?”

“What? No. No Makka- Makka’s fine it’s… Look I can’t explain here, can you come with me?”

Victor could see the curiosity in his friend’s eyes as he raised an eyebrow, could practically hear the questions forming in Chris’ head just begging to be asked. He was relieved when Chris gave a small shrug and didn’t voice them.

“You’re in luck. I don’t have any appointments today so I can step away for a bit. Let me just fetch Yuri so he can keep an eye on the place.”

Victor blanched. “What?”

Chris gave him a questioning look. “Yuri, my apprentice? Skinny runt who’s usually yelling at something?”

“Oh… Right. Yuri of course.

His heart was pounding loudly in his ears, _how_ had he completely missed the irony when Yuuri had given him his name? He took a few careful breaths to try and calm himself, smiling and waving dismissively at the quizzical look Chris was giving him. Chris continued to eye him a moment longer before shrugging and disappearing into the back. Victor sighed and tried to will his nerves back under control, he was way too on edge. He didn’t dare explain anything until they were closer to the clearing, he just needed to keep it together until they got there. The idea of coming to Chris had come to him on his walk home after Yuuri had voiced his concerns over whether or not he would be able to fly again, and not for the first time was Victor wondering if he was making a mistake. Revealing Yuuri to someone was risky, even if it was Chris, but he was determined to help his new friend and to do that he was going to have to take that risk.

“And just what am I supposed to do if someone comes in with their hand chopped off or something?” The agitated voice broke through his thoughts.

Chris gave a hearty chuckle as he came back into the room, accompanied by his young apprentice who looked very put out. He crossed his arms as he glared up at the older man.

“You’re a clever boy, you’ll figure it out,” Chris said as he ruffled the boy’s hair, his hand was immediately swatted away.

Stepping away, he glared even harder at Chris before turning away. When his eyes landed on Victor he blinked, scowled, and turned back.

“What the hell?! You said you had an emergency to take care of not go out with the old man!”

Victor ignored the dig. “It _is_ an emergency Yura,” Victor assured. The nickname would be much less confusing. “I only need to borrow him for a little while, but I promise to return him.”

“Yeah, yeah fine,” Yuri huffed as he flopped into a chair. “Just get going already.”

Victor smiled. Chris grabbed his travel bag and after saying their goodbyes the two headed out.

“So how long do you plan on keeping me in the dark about this?” Chris asked as they made their way through town.

“At least until we get to where we’re going.”

“And where exactly _are_ we going?”

“Hope you’re in the mood for a hike!” Victor forced himself to sound chipped.

Chris eyed him a moment then sighed and let it go. They stopped by Victor’s house briefly so he could grab his bow—he never went into the forest without it—and to fetch Makkachin who greeted Chris happily. No reason to keep the pooch from his new friend, and it might make introductions go a little easier, or so Victor hoped. Once he had everything he needed they made their way off into the forest.

To his credit, and much to Victor’s relief, Chris said nothing as they made their way along what had become a very familiar path for Victor. The only sounds aside from the natural ones of the forest were the crunch of leaves and twigs under their feet and Makkachin’s excited barks as he bounced around ahead of them.

“Makka’s certainly excited about something,” Chris commented.

“He knows where we’re going.”

“You mean to tell me the _dog_ knows more about what’s going on than I do?”

“Chris…”

“Victor I’m sorry, but you realize how strange this all is right? You come to me asking for help but won’t tell me why, and won’t even tell me where we’re going.”

Victor sighed. “I know Chris, and I’m sorry but I promise it will make sense when we get there. Or… At the very least I’ll be able to explain. I just need you to trust me.”

It was Chris’ turn to sigh. “I do trust you Victor, but I’m holding you to that.”

Victor nodded. He had no idea _how_ he was going to explain everything without it all sounding completely crazy—which admittedly it was—but he wasn’t going to hide anything. He just had to hope Chris’ trust in him would hold out.

The brush that marked the edge of the clearing soon came into view, Makkachin gave an elated bark before disappearing through it. When Victor and Chris reached it, Chris raised a hand to push it aside but Victor stopped him.

“Before we step through here I need you to promise me you’ll keep an open mind.”

Chris raised an eyebrow. “What do you-”

“Promise me Chris.”

Chris turned to fully face him, his eyes searching him carefully. After a few tense moments he sighed and nodded.

“All right, I promise.”

Victor returned the nod then turned back towards the brush, pushing it aside and allowed Chris to step through first. He waited, his entire body tense, and then heard Chris’ sharp intake of breath.

“What in the…”

Taking a deep breath he stepped through to stand at his friend’s side, glancing over at him to take in the wide-eyed, open-mouthed look of surprise he had been expecting. Chris was completely frozen, his eyes locked on Yuuri who was currently being thoroughly loved on by Makkachin. Victor allowed his friend another minute to take in what he was seeing before murmuring his name. Chris jumped like he had forgotten Victor was there, his head whipped over to look at him.

“Victor… What… Who…” He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath before trying again. “Have I completely lost my mind or does that guy over there have wings?”

Victor bit back a smile. “You’re completely sane I’m afraid.”

Chris started at him then turned his attention back to Yuuri. He had finally managed to free himself from Makkachin and was now purposely scratching the dog on either side of his head. Chris let out the breath he had been holding.

“You’ve got a hell of a lot of explaining to do.”

Victor nodded. “I know,” he said then began walking forward.

Yuuri lifted turned his head away from Makkachin when he heard the approach, his warm smile greeting Victor when he spotted him. The smile quickly faded however when his eyes shifted to Chris beside him. He looked confused for a moment, then his eyes went wide in obvious panic. Not good. Yuuri released Makkachin and scrambled backwards until his back hit the cliff wall, his chest rising and falling quickly. Makkachin wined and padded over to him, nosing gently at his cheek but Yuuri didn’t seem to notice, his eyes were fixed solely on Chris. Maybe not telling Yuuri his plan hadn’t been the best idea. He put a hand, signaling for Chris to stay there, before hurrying over.

“Yuuri, Yuuri it’s okay.” Yuuri recoiled away when he reached a hand towards him, so he settled for holding his hands up instead. “Yuuri you need to calm down, you’re safe. He’s a friend, he’s not going to hurt you. He‘s here to help.”

Yuuri finally looked at him, and Victor felt guilt settle heavy in his gut. Yuuri’s eyes were wide and frantic making him look like a cornered animal, he looked even more terrified than he had the first time Victor had come upon him. He glanced back at Chris, who was staring at the scene before him completely dumbfounded. Any other time he would have found the sight hilarious. He looked back to Yuuri, whose eyes had returned to Chris, and suddenly he realized what this must look like. That Victor had told someone about him and was now here to do god knows what to him. He really didn’t think this through.

“Yuuri please,” he spoke as gently as possible. “I promise Chris isn’t going to hurt you. He’s a really good friend, I brought him here to look at your wing.”

Yuuri slowly looked at him again, almost as if he was unwilling to take his eyes off Chris. His breathing was slowing, and the tension in his body was starting to ease away, but his eyes were still wide and searching.

“M-My…” he swallowed, trying to find his voice. “My w-wing…?”

Victor nodded. “Yes. Chris is a doctor. I’m sorry I should have told you I was bringing him, but he’s only here to help I swear.”

Yuuri’s eyes flicked to Chris then back to Victor. Slowly, ever so slowly the fear left his eyes though the uncertainty remained, Victor would take it, and his breathing returned to normal. He gave a small nod. Victor let out a quiet sigh of relief before offering Yuuri a smile.

“Victor?”

Yuuri jumped, his eyes shooting towards Chris once again, Victor turned to address his friend.

“It’s all right Chris, you can come over.”

Chris shot him a look that demanded some sort of explanation as to what was going on. When Victor didn’t offer one Chris sighed and made his way over, Victor heard Yuuri shift and turned back to him. Yuuri’s eyes were fixed on Chris, and Victor could tell he was torn between trusting Victor and staying there or fleeing. Victor reached a careful hand out and placed it on his shoulder, not really surprised to find that he was shaking. He murmured once again that it would be all right before Chris reached them, keeping a few feet of distance between him and Yuuri.

“Yuuri, this is my friend Chris. Chris, this is Yuuri.”

The irony was not lost on Chris.

“Yuuri huh?” he said, trying to sound casual. “Well now I know why you reacted so strange earlier.”

Yuuri looked at Victor and tilted his head, Victor chuckled.

“There’s a Yuri back in our village. He’s apprenticing under Chris.”

Yuuri nodded, though still looked like he didn’t understand, Victor decided to explain later.

“So _now_ are you going to tell me why you dragged me all the way out here?” He looked at Yuuri. “I’m going to assume based on your reaction you had no idea I was coming.”

Yuuri looked at him, he swallowed and shook his head. Chris sighed dramatically.

_“Victor…”_

“Okay, okay so I didn’t think this through, I get it.”

Chris laughed and after a moment Yuuri gave a weak smile, Victor let out a quiet sigh of relief. Chris was already starting to relax despite how bizarre this whole thing was, which in turn was getting Yuuri to relax, this was going about as good as he could have hoped. Victor had been worried about the initial meeting, but Chris was easy to get along with, and it was hard not to be drawn to Yuuri given the mystery that surrounded him, so he had been confident that once the shock wore off Chris and Yuuri would be fine. Though not including Yuuri in his plan had definitely been a bad idea, he would have to make it up to him somehow.

“Glad I’m not the only one who has to suffer Victor’s impulsiveness.”

Victor still had his hand on Yuuri’s shoulder and could feel that he had stopped shaking, that was a good sign. Chris looked Yuuri up and down, eyes settling on the bandage wrapped around his lower torso.

“Is that why I’m here? Cause that looks pretty taken care of to me.”

Victor shook his head. “No, I need you to look at his wing.”

“Wing?” He looked to the two feathered black wings currently pressed against the cliff wall. “You know I’m a human doctor, right? I’m not a vet. Er, no offence.” he added looking at Yuuri. Yuuri just looked puzzled.

“I know, but could you look anyway? I don’t really have any other options.”

Chris sighed. “All right, I’ll see what I can do.” He addressed Yuuri. “Is this all right with you?”

Yuuri looked between the two men. Though he had relaxed considerably Victor could tell he wasn’t really sure about all this, so he gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze of encouragement. The gesture made him focus on Victor, and after a moment he nodded and looked to Chris.

“Um… Y-yes… If… If you could… Please…”

Chris nodded, setting down his bag. “Turn around so I can have a look.”

Victor stepped back out of the way to allow him to do so, sitting on the ground with Makkachin to watch. Once determining which wing needed his attention Chris had Yuuri spread it as best he could. The action made Yuuri wince, but he gritted his teeth against it. Chris worked with expert hands as he moved them along the top of the wing, applying gentle pressure every few inches. Yuuri suddenly let out a small cry of pain when he pressed one spot and jerked away. Murmuring an apology, Chris focused on that spot, being careful not to cause further discomfort. After another minute he lowered his hands and had Yuuri refold his wing.

“Well?” Victor asked.

“How long has it been like this?”

“A little over a week? Why?”

Chris put a hand under his chin and gave a thoughtful hum as he studied Yuuri’s wing. He knelt down to his bag, opened it, and began rummaging through it.

“Chris?”

“It’s definitely broken, though I’m sure you already assumed as much.” The last part was said to Yuuri, who nodded.

“Can anything be done?” Victor asked.

“Well… To be honest with you I’m not sure. I know the theory behind what you’re supposed to do with a broken wing, but that’s on a bird. And the fact it went untreated for a week…” He shook his head. “You haven’t tried flying have you?”

Yuuri shook his head. “No. I… I tried not to move it as much as possible.”

“Well that’s good.” He pulled a few rolls of bandages from his bag. “Give me a hand Victor, we need to bind his wing against his body. I don’t know if this will actually help, like I said this method is used on birds, but it’s the only thing I can think of.”

“Whatever you can do Chris,” Victor said as he stood and moved over to them.

It took some finagling, and lots of awkward wrapping, but the two of them eventually managed to get Yuuri’s wing bound against his back while leaving his other wing free. It looked awkward, and Victor could only imagine how it felt, but if it eventually got him back into the air then Yuuri would just have to bear with it.

“There,” Chris said as he tied off the bandage. “That should do it, how does it feel? Is it too tight?”

Yuuri shook his head. “No. I mean, it feels a little weird only being able to move one wing, but it’s fine.”

Chris nodded. “It will have to stay like that for a couple weeks. Until then we’ll just have to cross our fingers and hope for the best.”

He knelt down by his bag again, tossing in the unused bandages before closing it and standing again with the bag in hand.

“I need to get back to the clinic. Little Yuri is probably bored to tears by now.”

“Chris thank you. I know this was all a bit… Unorthodox. Do you need me to walk back with you?”

“Maybe for part of the way.”

Victor nodded. He told Yuuri he would be right back, ordered Makkachin to stay, then the two of them made their way towards the edge of the clearing. Chris turned back and called out a “Nice meeting you Yuuri!” before slipping through the brush and back into the forest. The moment the branches swung back into place behind Victor, Chris rounded on him.

“All right, spill. What in the world is going on. Who… _What_ is he?”

Victor sighed, he knew this was coming. He pulled Chris a little further away from the clearing before speaking.

“Remember, open mind.”

“My mind is pretty well opened Victor.”

Victor drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly before speaking again. “He’s a dragon.”

Chris’ bad fell to the ground with a dull thump, Victor ignored it as he kept his eyes on his friend. He tried to read his expression, to guess what was going through the man’s head at the moment, but aside from shock he couldn’t tell anything else. Chris was simply staring as if he were waiting for Victor to deliver the punchline of a joke. When the silence between them stretched out uncomfortably Victor knew he would have to be the one to speak first.

“Chris?” he said tentatively.

Chris blinked, seeming to come out of a trance before focusing his eyes on Victor.

“I’m sorry… I must have misheard you. I thought you just said your friend back there was-”

“A dragon,” Victor said before he could finish. “He’s a dragon Chris.”

Chris had always been the more composed one of the two of them despite being younger. Victor could tell his friends was desperately trying to hold on to that composure, but the longer he had to absorb Victor’s words the more it slipped so he quickly dove into the story of what happened. How he had been out hunting when a dragon had flown overhead, and though he had hidden at first a fit of burning rage had him scaling a tree and taking a shot. He explained his surprise when his arrow had hit its mark and caused the dragon to fall from the sky, and how when he went to look for it the following morning he had instead found-

“Wait, wait, wait, back up,” Chris interrupted him, Victor was impressed at how even his voice was. “You mean to tell me you actually _shot down_ a dragon?”

“I couldn’t believe it either, but yeah.”

“And… that dragon was Yuuri?” Victor nodded. “The bandage… You treated his wound?” Again Victor nodded. _“Why?”_

Victor ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “I couldn’t bring myself to kill him Chris. I tried but… I couldn’t do it. Next thing I knew I was treating his wound and more or less nursing him back to health.”

“Nursing him back to- Victor are you _insane?_ We’re not talking about some stray puppy this is a _dragon._ We have to tell someone, the village head or-”

“No,” Victor said firmly. “We’re not telling anyone anything.”

“Victor-”

“He’s not dangerous Chris, you saw him. I thought he was going to faint when he saw you. Did you at any point feel like you were in danger when you were near him?”

“Well… No but-”

“And do you really think I would have brought you out here if I thought I was putting you in danger?”

Chris sighed. _“No_ but-

“Chris I know how crazy this is, believe me I know, but I need you to trust me here. Yuuri isn’t dangerous, he’s no threat to the village. Hell, I’m fairly certain he’s _afraid_ of humans.” Chris snorted at that but Victor ignored it. “Please Chris, you’ve always had my back, I need you to have it now and swear you won’t say anything.”

“You’re really serious about this?” Victor nodded firmly. Chris studied him for a long moment before letting out a long sigh. “I swear you’re going to be the death of me… Just tell me one thing, what’s he even doing here?”

At that Victor averted his gaze. “I… haven’t asked him about that yet…”

Chris gaped, then pinched the bridge of his nose. “Victor…” he sighed and let the thought drop. “I’ll come back in a couple weeks to take the bandages off as we’ll go from there. I just really hope you know what you’re doing.”

Victor looked at his friends again, he nodded and smiled. “Thanks Chris. Really.”

Chris waved a dismissive hand. “Next time we go for drinks it’s on you.”

“Deal.”

With a nod and a final wave Chris turned and made his way back towards the village. Victor watched until he was out of sight before turning and going back into the clearing.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Victor finally gets some answers, and his past comes back to haunt him.

The first few days of Yuuri’s recovery started out uneventful. Victor still came every day, and he and Yuuri would sit by the fire and talk like they had been, although it was Victor who did most of the talking. He didn’t notice it at first, but as he told story after story about his life in Torvel he realized that Yuuri wasn’t offering anything about himself. No funny stories or embarrassing moments (did dragons have embarrassing moments?) he simply seemed content just listening to Victor. Normally Victor wouldn’t mind, but there were things he wanted to know. Where was he from? Why was he here? Were there other dragons or was he alone? He wanted to know these things, but wasn’t really sure how to ask.

After the first few days he also noticed that Yuuri seemed to be getting antsy. When they were sitting he would shift and fidget like he couldn’t sit still, and when there was a lull in their conversation he would get up and walk around, usually while Victor was cooking. Finally, after the third day of this Victor asked about it.

“Are you all right?”

They were sitting by the fire, Yuuri was playing with the cuff of his pants and had been for the last few minutes with his eyes staring unseeing into the fire. When Victor spoke he blinked and looked up.

“What?”

“You’ve been restless ever since we sat down. Is something bothering you?”

“Oh… No it… It’s nothing.”

“It’s something. It’s not just today, you’ve been antsy the last few days. If something’s on your mind then you should-”

“I’m fine Victor, really. I’m just…” He looked away, Victor waited for him to continue. He was about to say something when it looked like Yuuri was going to remain silent, but then the dragon sighed. “I’m just… bored…” He said the last word so quietly Victor would have missed it had he not been paying attention. He blinked.

“Bored?”

Yuuri nodded. “All we ever do is sit and talk. Which I enjoy!” He added quickly, waving his hands in front of him. “But I just…” He shrugged. “I’m used to being more active.”

That made sense. Yuuri was probably used to spending his days soaring through the skies, anything would be dull compared to that. Victor looked down at the rabbits he had just finished getting on to the skewers, how was he supposed to entertain a dragon?

“I could… teach you to cook?” The suggestion sounded stupid the moment it was out of his mouth, but it was too late to take it back now.

“What?”

“It would be something different,” he said with a shrug. Why was he trying to talk this up? “I mean I realize it’s not something you really need to know how to do but… You know, never mind. Forget I said anything, it was a stupid idea.”

“No, no,” Yuuri said quickly, he scooted closer. “It’s not stupid at all.”

Victor looked at him in surprise. “Really?”

Yuuri nodded, his eyes were on the skewers of meat in Victor’s hands. Victor looked at them a moment then looked back at Yuuri to see his eyes shining with excitement, the sight was rather adorable. With a light chuckle he handed one of the skewers to Yuuri.

“This is really fairly simple. You just hold the meat over the fire, turn it every so often, and wait until it’s cooked the whole way through. Otherwise you could get sick.” He paused. “ _Can_ you get sick from food?”

Yuuri shrugged. “It’s never happened before, but I imagine so. Though I’m probably more susceptible to it in this form.”

That immediately caught Victor’s attention. Obviously he knew about Yuuri’s other form, but this was the first he had ever said anything about it. This could be his chance to ask questions.

“Really?”

“I’m no different from you in this form, er, aside from the wings that is. But anything that could make you sick can do the same to me.”

If that was the case then Yuuri was extremely lucky he hadn’t caught pneumonia after being out in the rain for two days. Victor wondered if his interference had staved it off.

“How does that work though? Dragons have powerful magic to them, right? Doesn’t that protect you?”

“It does, but not the way you think. For us, our magic primarily determines our breath and what we’re weak or strong against. For me it allows me to change form, and when I do the magic sort of… retreats until I change back.”

Victor mulled over this information. It was interesting and quite different from what he had always heard. Dragons were powerful, near invincible creatures. A beat of their wings could collapse a city, their roar could topple mountains or so the stories went. Now Victor began to wonder just how much credit those stories held.

“So…” A thought had occurred to him when something Yuuri said came back to him. “Does that mean you don’t have a breath?”

Yuuri nodded. “Right. But as a tradeoff I have a stronger resistance to all types of breath.”

“Huh. Well that’s useful at least.” Yuuri shrugged.

“I guess. Though it’s not like I make a point of fighting other dragons so it really doesn’t come up.”

Victor nodded, he really didn’t see Yuuri as the fighting type. Though the fact he knew he had such a resistance suggested that he had been in fights before, or at the very least had been attacked. He found he didn’t like that thought and quickly pushed it from his mind.

“Are there others like you? Dragons that can turn human I mean. I’ve heard stories, but until I met you I never really believed them.”

Yuuri gave a thoughtful hum. “I suppose there could be, though I’ve never met one so I really don’t know.”

“Never?”

“We don’t exactly go out of our way to make ourselves known, even to each other. Usually we’ll find some place well secluded to settle and raise our families.”

Yuuri’s eyes suddenly lost their usual glow and was replaced with a faraway look. He turned away, his gaze settling on the fire. Victor stared at him for a minute, startled by the sudden change, and a little concerned.

“Yuuri?”

Yuuri didn’t respond, he didn’t even react. Victor said his name again but still got no response, it was as if Yuuri was deep in his own thoughts. After a minute or two Victor reached a hand towards him, intent on regaining his attention. His fingertips were mere inches from Yuuri’s arm when he suddenly snapped back to attention. When he looked at Victor the light had returned to his eyes.

“Anyway, we’re supposed to be cooking, right?”

Victor blinked, taken aback by the sudden shift in topic. He studied Yuuri a moment, debating whether or not to comment on what had just happened. Yuuri was looking at him expectantly, and in the end Victor decided to let it go.

“Right. Like I said, you want to make sure the meat is cooked the whole way through.”

Victor pushed the ordeal from his mind, and by the time he was nearly crying from laughter because Yuuri had managed to set his skewer of meat on fire he had forgotten about it completely. Yuuri pouted and refused to talk to Victor for nearly ten minutes, and when he finally did he threatened to make Victor eat the charred mess that was his first cooking attempt. It wasn’t until he and Makkachin were on their way back home that he allowed himself to think of their conversation.

He thought about the far-off look at had been in Yuuri’s eyes, it had been sad, almost longing. What had happened to him to warrant such a look? It had come when Yuuri had mentioned families, had someone happened to his? Did it have anything to do with why he was here when a dragon hadn’t been seen in this area in a long time? He wanted to ask Yuuri about it, but wasn’t sure how to go about it, or if he even should. It wasn’t like it was any of his business, but still he wanted to know. He decided if it came up again he would ask, but he wouldn’t force Yuuri to talk about it if he didn’t want to. He just had to hope Yuuri would be willing to talk about it.

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

The remaining time for Yuuri’s recovery went by quickly. Admitting that sitting by the fire all day was rather dull, Victor dragged him along to other activities. He taught Yuuri how to use his bow, and was surprised at how quickly he picked it up. Anything they shot they took back and Victor showed him how to skin and clean it. Yuuri continued learning to cook, his new attempts much better than the first. Victor also taught him some basic tracking, explaining that it took years to master the skill. They were things a dragon had no reason to know how to do, but Yuuri was fascinated with each new thing. 

Yuuri’s happy mood was infectious. Every smile brought a smile to Victor, every laugh made him feel light enough to float away. The things he taught Yuuri had never had much meaning to them, they were simply things he did to survive. But now, doing them _with_ Yuuri, he found he was actually enjoying them, he was having fun. But like all good things, it eventually had to end. Night had fallen, the next day Chris would be there to remove the bandages and they would know whether or not Yuuri’s wing had healed. A thought at the back of his mind that Victor had been trying to ignore now hung heavily in both his mind and chest.

“Chris is coming to remove the bandages tomorrow. You must be excited.”

They were lying side by side, eyes turned towards the star filled sky above them, Makkachin was curled up against Yuuri’s other side. Victor had been pointing out stars and constellations that he knew, and explaining how you could use the stars to find your way. Like everything else, Yuuri had listened with rapt fascination. He gave a hum of acknowledgment to Victor’s comment.

“What’s it like? Flying.”

Yuuri gave a thoughtful hum before speaking. “It’s… freeing. On the ground you can feel confined, like there’s a limit to what you can do. But in the air those boundaries are gone. You can let go of whatever may be bothering you and just _be._

Victor smiled. “Sounds nice.”

Silence fell between them, the thought on Victor’s mind felt heavier. He glanced over at Yuuri and could see he was struggling to keep his eyes open, this could be his only chance to ask. He wouldn’t say anything with Chris around, and after that…

“What will you do?”

Yuuri’s eyes had drifter closed. But at the sound of the question he opened them and looked over.

“What?”

“Once your wing is healed. What… What will you do?”

Yuuri looked at him for a long moment before turning his gaze back towards the sky. In the light from the fire behind them Victor could just barely make out Yuuri’s face, but he couldn’t read the look he saw there. When he didn’t answer right away Victor was confused, he thought the answer would have been obvious. There was no reason for Yuuri to stay, frankly it would be safer for him if he didn’t. It was only a matter of time before someone else stumbled across this little clearing, they were lucky so far that no one had. But the longer the silence lasted, the more anxious Victor felt. Was Yuuri thinking of staying? Would he stay if Victor asked?

Victor quickly pushed that second thought from his mind, he could never do that. Yuuri didn’t belong here, he belonged in the sky flying free and happy. He belonged with his own kind, far away and safe from humans who would want to hurt him. Asking such a thing wouldn’t be fair to Yuuri, he knew that. So as much as he wanted to, and he really did want to, he knew he couldn’t. And Yuuri needed to know he was better off somewhere else. He forced out a small chuckle.

“That was a stupid question wasn’t it? Sorry. Of course you’ll go home. I’m sure you miss your friends and family.”

Yuuri grew tense beside him, he frowned. That wasn’t the reaction he had been expecting.

“Yuuri?”

Yuuri drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly, Victor noted a shakiness to it. He opened his eyes, and when he did Victor saw a tear slip out of the corner of the eye he could see. With a sinking feeling he knew what was coming.

“I… I don’t… Have a home to return to…”

Victor shifted, turning over and propping himself up on one arm to properly face Yuuri. He deserved that much.

“What happened?” he asked quietly.

Yuuri brought a hand up and wiped at his eyes, Victor waited while he composed himself. When he finally spoke again he kept his gaze towards the sky.

“It… It was attacked… By humans…”

Victor felt his blood run cold. He had been expecting this answer, but that didn’t make it any easier to hear. The look of pain and sadness on Yuuri’s face made him want to reach an arm out and embrace him, but he didn’t know how such an action would be taken so he resisted. He wanted to say something, but really what could he say? What sort of comfort could he offer when his own kind had caused so much pain? Still…

“Yuuri… I…”

“They were hunters.” His voice broke slightly when he spoke, Victor could tell he was fighting back tears. “But… Not hunters like you they were… different.”

“Different?”

Yuuri nodded. “Their arrows were different. They could go right through our scales. And… And anyone they hit couldn’t move we… We never stood a chance…”

“Dragon Hunters…”

Yuuri finally looked at him, his eyes questioning. Victor considered how much he should say then sighed, no point sugar coating it.

“They’re masters at hunting and killing dragon’s. The tips of their arrows are coated with a substance made from the leaves of the Dren Flower, and like you said it renders the target unable to move. The effect is temporary, but how long it lasts depends on how concentrated it is. They know the strengths and weaknesses of every known dragon, and have specific techniques for tracking each one.”

Yuuri was giving him an odd look, and suddenly looked very uncomfortable being so close to him. Victor waited, he knew the question was coming. And after a moment…

“Why… Do you know so much about them?” he asked slowly.

“Because I almost joined them.”

He heard the sharp intake of breath, watched as his eyes widened. Yuuri sat up and moved away from him, Victor wasn’t surprised nor did he blame him. He had known this information would be shocking. He sat up and turned so that he was facing Yuuri, but made no motion to move towards him. Yuuri’s eyes were wide, uncertain. He was looking at Victor like he had never seen him before. This really wasn’t how he had imagined this conversation going.

“My parents were killed by a dragon.” He locked eyes with Yuuri, refusing to look away for this. “I was seven when it happened. It destroyed my village and nearly killed everyone there. I was one of only about a dozen that made it out alive.”

The stiffness in Yuuri’s shoulders slowly eased away and his eyes softened. There was still a hint of uncertainty there as he eyes Victor carefully, but Victor couldn’t bring himself to be upset about it. He had revealed quite the secret about himself after all. When it became apparent Yuuri wasn’t going to say anything he decided to continue.

“I’ve harbored a hatred for dragons ever since then. It was why I didn’t even think twice about taking a shot at you that night. Why the following morning I set out in search of you, intent on finishing the job if I could. And then when I _did_ find you I couldn’t bring myself to do it, talk about irony. I was so angry at myself. I kept telling myself that I was endangering others by letting you live. But then… Well, I got to know you. And now… Now I don’t know what to think.”

Yuuri shifted so that he was sitting on his knees and lowered his gaze, gripping at the fabric of his pants. Victor watched him silently, wondering what was going through his head. Was he regretting getting so close now that he knew Victor had almost joined the very people that had caused him so much pain? What exactly happened? Was Yuuri the only one to escape or had there been others? He wanted to ask, but wasn’t sure if he should. But as the silence stretched out between them he felt he should say something. Before he could however Yuuri beat him to it.

“We’re not all the monster’s you human’s think we are… Sure there are those that will attack humans without provocation but…” He paused, once again seeming to debate whether or not to continue. Victor waited. “Would you believe me if I told you humans and dragons once co-existed peacefully?”

Victor’s eyes widened. “What?”

“It was a long time ago, before I was born but my parents told me the stories. Humans and dragons used to be allies. They worked together, fought together, helped each other. It was… a better time for dragon’s.”

Victor had never heard anything like this before. For as long as he had been alive dragons were something to be feared They were monsters that would not hesitate to kill should a human be unlucky enough to cross paths with one. Spending time with Yuuri had already caused him to question that belief, but now hearing this…

“What happened?”

Yuuri gave a half shrug. “What always happens, someone who was unhappy with the way things were took matters into their own hands. In this case, a human killed a dragon and treated it like a great accomplishment. After that other humans wanted boasting rights, and soon it became a sort of sport to them. Dragons became the ultimate prize for hunters, what choice did we have but to fight back? Over time the peace was all but forgotten to humans, and dragons were forced to go into hiding.”

Victor turned his gaze towards the fire as he mulled over this new information. It was a lot to take in, but he didn’t for a moment doubt Yuuri’s words. What reason would he have to lie about this? Now more than ever he felt guilty for having shot Yuuri, and felt his stomach tighten when he realized he had never apologized for doing so. Although now hardly seemed the best time. A sniffle drew his attention and he looked back to Yuuri to see tears flowing freely from his eyes.

“Yuuri?”

“We never hurt anyone.” His voice cracked as he spoke. “All we wanted was to live quietly and not be bothered. And then those… those _hunters._ They took that away.”

There was venom in Yuuri’s voice when he said the word “hunters” and Victor couldn’t help the slight flinch when he heard it. As Yuuri continued to cry Victor looked away to give him some privacy and to try and think of something to say, but really what _could_ he say? He understood exactly how Yuuri felt, and knew that no amount of comfort would ever be enough. 

Makkachin inched over to him, nuzzling gently against his arm. Yuuri looked at him a moment before wrapping his arms around the dog, crying softly into his curly fur. Makkachin let out a soft whine and licked his ear, eliciting a small laugh from the dragon. Hearing this, Victor took a chance to look back over. Yuuri’s eyes were red, but he seemed to be calming down as he scratched Makkachin behind the ears. Eventually he looked over at Victor, though when their eyes met he looked away again.

“S-Sorry. Some terrifying dragon I am huh?”

Victor shook his head. “Don’t apologize. I Imagine you needed that.”

Yuuri gave a small nod and silence fell between them once again. Victor watched as Yuri continued to dote on Makkachin, taking obvious comfort in the dog’s presence. If there was one thing Makka was good at it was comforting. Victor didn’t want to upset Yuuri further, but there were things he still wanted to know. Maybe there was something he could do to help. Might as well get it all out now rather than bringing it up later.

“Yuuri… Were you the only one that got away?”

Yuuri’s hands stilled in Makkachin’s fur, Makkachin looked at him and tilted his head to the side. After a moment Yuuri shook his head.

“No… Me and one other managed to get away with the three younglings of close friends of mine. Once we got far enough away we split up, I sent the younglings with Phichit. We hoped splitting up would make us harder to follow. I don’t know what happened to them, but I’m hoping they made it.”

“Made it?”

Yuuri nodded. “There’s an island. Or well, stories of an island far out in the eastern sea that is a sort of safe haven for dragons. It’s protected by the few humans whose ancestors maintained peace with the dragons. That’s where we were heading in the hopes of finding help to rescue everyone else.”

Victor sat a little straighter at that. “Rescue? You mean they weren’t all killed?”

Yuuri shook his head. “No. In fact… It seemed liked the hunters were taking care _not_ to kill. That’s why… That’s why I’m hoping to find them before…”

He trailed off, but Victor knew what he was thinking. He might be able to offer him at least a little comfort.

“They probably won’t kill them.” Yuuri looked at him quizzically. “If the hunters didn’t kill on sight and instead were capturing then they probably have something else in mind. My guess is they plan on selling the dragons they caught. Though what happens to them after that…” he gave a helpless shrug.”

“Do you know where they might have gone?” Victor shook his head.

“Sorry… I don’t.”

Yuuri sighed, his shoulders slumped as he looked at the ground. Victor shifted forward then reached out and placed a hand on his knee. Yuuri looked at it then up at Victor.

“But I’ll help you find them. No matter what it takes.”

Yuuri’s eyes widened. “You… You will?”

Victor nodded. Yuuri stared at him as if waiting for him to take it back, but Victor had no intention of doing so. They both had been through rough times, there was nothing that could be done for Victor but Yuuri still had a chance. He knew it wouldn’t be easy, there was no telling where the hunters had gone, but Victor didn’t care. He was going to do whatever he could to reunite Yuuri with his group.

He smiled, hoping the gesture would reassure Yuuri of his intentions. Yuuri continued to stare at him a moment longer before suddenly launching forward and wrapping his arms around Victor’s neck. The sudden motion caught his off guard and they both went tumbling backwards.

“Y-Yuri, what-”

“Thank you.”

His voice was barely a whisper, had Yuuri’s face not been so close to his ear he would have missed it. After a moment he realized Yuuri was shaking slightly, he was crying again. Victor smiled again before reaching up and gently stroking the back of Yuuri’s head. The dragon stilled, his body tense, but after a moment he relaxed into the touch. They laid like that for a while before Yuuri finally regained himself enough to push himself back up to his knees. He wiped at his eyes.

“S-Sorry…” he mumbled. Victor sat up and shook his head.

“It’s fine. Thank you for trusting me with this, I’m sure it wasn’t easy to talk about.” Yuuri nodded but didn’t say anything. After a moment Victor spoke again. “You should get some rest. It’s late, and I’m sure this took a lot out of you.”

Yuuri nodded again. “You and Makkachin should… probably get home then…”

Victor looked at him. His eyes were fixed on the ground as he fidgeted with the fabric of his pants. Victor considered him for a moment then flopped back on to the ground.

“You know, it’s been a while since I slept out under the stars. And it’s such a nice night, seems a shame to pass it up.”

He glanced over at Yuuri, who was looking at him with wide eyes. Yuuri had wanted to ask him to stay, he was sure of it, but of course was too afraid to. Victor had already been reluctant to leave—which was why he had stayed even after the sun set—but now in light of everything Yuuri had told him he had even less desire to leave the other’s side. It might have been a silly notion, but he didn’t care. Yuuri needed a friend more than ever right now, and that’s exactly what he was going to be.

When Yuuri still hadn’t moved he held an arm out in open invitation and had to fight back the smile when he saw Yuuri’s cheeks flush. Finally he inched closer, hesitated, then gingerly laid down beside him. Victor wrapped his arm around his shoulders and pulled him closer. Yuuri went tense and for a moment Victor thought he would pull away, but then he slowly relaxed. Even inched a little closer once he was sure this was really okay.

And it was okay. In fact, nothing had never felt more okay. Yuuri was warm against his side, his smaller frame fitting there perfectly, like he belonged there. What a sight the two of them must make, but Victor didn’t care. He had never felt so content in his life. Glancing over at Yuuri he saw that the other’s eyes were closed, could see the even rise and fall of his chest indicating that he was already asleep. Victor was hardly surprised with the mess of emotions he had just gone through. Without thinking, he leaned down a placed a gently kiss to the top of his head before resting his own back against the ground. He closed his eyes, and it wasn’t long before sleep overtook him as well.

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

“All right, that’s the last of them.” Chris took a step back, arms loaded with the bandages he had just finished removing from Yuuri’s wing. “Stretch it out slowly.”

Yuuri nodded and did as instructed. He stretched his wing out, held it a few counts, then folded it back in again. With a nod from Chris he did it again.

“Well? How does it feel? Any pain?”

“It’s a little stiff, but it doesn’t hurt.” Chris nodded.

“That’s a good sign. Care to test it out?”

Yuuri perked up. “You mean fly?”

“It’s the only way we’ll know for sure if it’s healed. Just see if you can get off the ground, then we can go from there.”

Yuuri nodded eagerly and Victor couldn’t help but smile, he knew Yuuri was itching to get back into the air. He took a few steps back from the two of them before lowering himself down so that his body was supported by his hands and toes. He rolled his shoulder, then paused, blinked, and stood back up. His hands went to the rope holding up his pants, where he again paused before looking at his companions.

“Something wrong?” Chris asked.

“Er… Well… It’s just, I need to go back to my regular form, but I need to take these off,” he indicated the pants. “So I don’t ruin them.”

Chris raised an eyebrow before a smoldering smile spread across his face.

“Well then by all means, I certainly don’t mind.”

Yuuri’s eyes widened. He stared at Chris in utter confusion before looking to Victor, who had his face in his hand.

“Chris just… turn around,” he said. Chris raised an eyebrow.

“Since when do you care about such things?”

_“Chris.”_

Chris continued to eye his friend quizzically. He looked over at, Yuuri who seemed baffled for a different reason, then shrugged and turned around. Victor lifted his face from his hand once he was sure his cheeks were no longer burning. He gave Yuuri a nod before turning around as well.

He knew Chris was watching him, but he kept his gaze fixed on a tree on the other side of the clearing. He was _not_ about to explain to his friends why he felt the need to look away from Yuuri when he was undressed. How he had spent several days with Yuuri while he was completely nude until one day he suddenly couldn’t. No, he was not having that conversation right now. Once they got back to the village well, he knew he wouldn’t be able to avoid it then.

Something smooth suddenly bumped against his hand, causing him to jump. He looked and felt his breath catch in his throat. The first time he had seen Yuuri in this form it had been dark and he had been too far away to really see anything, that wasn’t the case now. His entire body was as black as his wings, though when the light reflected off his smooth scales there were hints of blues and purples. The feathers atop his head had an almost swept back look to them, reminding him of the time he had seen Yuuri’s hair pushed back. The feathers continued down the back of his neck, around his chest, and along the length of his back and part of his tail. His tail went from feathers, to scales, then back to feathers right at the end. When he raised his long neck Victor was able to look right into his eyes, which had turned completely gold. There was no other word for it, he was _beautiful_ like this. He reached a hand up and placed it gently on the side of his head, Yuuri leaned his head into the touch.

“Wow…” he said, slightly breathless. “Yuuri you… Wow.”

Yuuri huffed at him, which Victor was sure was meant to be a laugh. A weight on his shoulder suddenly drew his attention. He looked over to see Chris there, leaning forward to get a good look at Yuuri.

“Well I’ll be damned,” he said. “You know there was a part of me that thought you were pulling my leg, but he really is a dragon.”

“Why in the world would I have made that up?”

Chris shrugged. Makkachin came over, sniffing at one of Yuuri’s clawed feet. Yuuri moved his head away from Victor’s hand and lowered it towards Makkachin, who looked up. The dog tilted his head to the side before letting out a happy bark and licking the tip of Yuuri’s nose. Victor laughed.

“Looks like Makka approves too.”

Yuuri brushed the end of his nose against Makkachin’s before lifting his head to look at the two of them again.

“Ready to test your wing?”

Yuuri nodded. He and Chris backed away to give him space, Makkachin followed after being called over. Yuuri spread his wings wide. He gave them a few easy test flaps before putting any effort into it. Dirt was lifted into the air by the gust caused by them, forcing Victor and Chris to shield their eyes with their hands. A few more flaps and Yuuri lifted into the air, only going as high as the tops of the trees before settling back down. He looked at his wing before doing an excited hop. Chris chuckled.

“Guess that means it’s all healed- Oof!”

He was nearly knocked over when Yuuri suddenly dashed over to him, tucking his head into the man’s neck and wrapping one wing around him. Chris blinked in surprise before smiling and patting the side of his neck,

“You’re welcome. Now go on, go give it a real test now.”

Yuuri pulled away. He looked between the two of them before turning and trotting away. A few strong flaps and he was in the air, a small cry of joy escaping him.

“Hope no one in town heard that,” Chris commented.

Victor gave a noncommittal hum as he watched Yuuri. He circled around above them, climbed higher, dove down, it was obvious he was having the time of his life being back in his element and Victor couldn’t help but smile, he was breathtaking.

“You have got it bad my friend.”

Victor blinked, he had almost forgotten Chris was there. Tearing his eyes away from the sight that was Yuuri he looked at his friend.

“What?”

“Don’t try to play coy, it’s written all over your face.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Chris rolled his eyes. “You’re _attracted_ to him.”

If Victor had been sitting down he probably would have fallen over. As it was he settled for sputtering in disbelief.

“What-I-You. Where in the _world_ did you get that idea? Did you somehow manage to forget that he’s a _dragon?”_

“Who can turn into a human.”

“That… That’s beside the point…”

“Oh? Then why did you have to look away before?” Victor averted his eyes and didn’t respond, Chris shrugged. “Hey, it’s not my place to judge, but you do realize he’s going to leave now that his wing is healed, right? It’s not safe for him here.”

Victor nodded as he looked at his friend again. “I know. And I’m going with him.”

It was Chris’ turn to sputter now. _“What?”_

“It will only be for a little while. I promised I would help him with something.”

“Care to elaborate?”

“Later,” Victor said as he looked up, Yuuri was coming back down. He landed easily before trotting over to them, his eyes were wide and sparkling with excitement. Victor smiled. “Enjoy your flight?”

Yuuri nodded before moving closed and nuzzling into the side of his neck like he had done Chris. Victor lifted a hand and ran it along the side of Yuuri’s neck, he was sure he felt the dragon shudder.

“I’m glad,” he said quietly.

They stood like that until a loud snap caused them to jump and jerk away. All three of them looked in the direction it had come from in time to see a head of blond hair that was all too familiar to Victor and Chris disappear into the brush.

Someone else had just found the clearing.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuri is loud, Victor is an idiot, and things are about to get a lot more complicated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm adding a tag that in my rush to get this posted on my posting date for the event I forgot to include. It doesn't come into play for two more chapters, but wanted to add it now for any new readers starting from the beginning.

“Let me go! Put me down.”

Yuri Plisetsky, Christophe’s young apprentice, had seen Yuuri. And upon realizing he had been caught had turned and ran. But he was running from two full grown men, one of whom could navigate the forest with ease, so he didn’t get far before Victor caught up to and cut him off. Now he was slung over Victor’s shoulder, kicking and writhing as he tried to free himself, but the older man had a firm grip.

“Now, now Yura there’s no need to be so excited. You’re perfectly safe.”

“Safe?!” Yuri spat. “You’re out here with a _dragon!_ You’re insane, both of you! Now put. Me. DOWN! Oof!”

The wind was knocked out of him when Victor not so gently deposited him on the ground. Yuri scrambled to his feet and made to run again, but Chris was there and had hold of him before he took a step.

“Let go of me!”

“Quit your squawking.” He looked towards his friend. “Victor.”

But Victor was already moving away. Yuuri had retreated to the base of the cliff. He was hunched low with his wings and tail wrapped close to him in an attempt to make himself look smaller, which worked about as well as one would expect. Under different circumstances Victor would have laughed at the idea, but the wide-eyed look of fear Yuuri gave him as he approached made his chest tighten instead. Yuri was young, only fifteen, and though he was loud he was hardly a threat to Yuuri. But he was a human, and Victor knew that alone was enough for Yuuri to be fearful. Victor knelt down and held his hand out, an invitation for Yuuri to come to him.

“It’s all right, he won’t hurt you. You could knock that shrimp down with a swipe of your tail no problem if you wanted to.”

“I heard that!”

Yuuri looked towards Chris and the still struggling Yuri then back at Victor. He hesitated, then slowly unfurled himself and crawled towards Victor, pressing his nose into his outstretched hand. Victor smiled and ran his hand along the side of his head and to his neck.

“Shall we go make introductions? I promise his bark is worse than his bite. Usually.”

He could see the uncertainty in Yuuri’s eyes, but after a moment the dragon gave a small nod. With a nod of his own Victor stood, turned, and made his way back over to Chris and Yuri, Yuuri followed after him. When he saw them approaching Yuri froze, his eyes wide and focused directly on Yuuri and Victor didn’t bother trying to hide his amused smirk. Serves him right for causing so much trouble. As they drew closer Yuri tried to back away but Chris held him firmly in place.

“Well this is quite the conundrum, isn’t it?” Victor said when he reached them, Yuuri stood just behind him.

“I’ll say,” Chris agreed. “Yuri what are you even _doing_ out here? You’re supposed to be watching the clinic.”

Yuri finally tore his eyes away from Yuuri to glare at him.

“You two have been acting suspicious for the last two weeks. I knew you had to be hiding something, but _this.”_ He gestured to Yuuri. “This is way beyond anything I could have imagined. You’re both out of your minds!”

“In my defense, I’ve only known since that day Victor came and got me.”

“And you didn’t say anything? This idiot is hiding a dragon a few miles outside town and you didn’t think this was something people needed to _know?”_

“Doctor/patient confidentially.” Chris said with a shrug. Victor snorted while Yuri stared at him in open mouthed disbelief.

“Doctor/patient… What the hell is wrong with you?! You mean to tell me you actually treated that thing?!”

Yuuri shrank back, tucking his head in close to his body. Victor glanced at him and was starkly reminded of the first time they had met. How angry he had felt and how scared Yuuri had been, was this how it had been? He really felt like a jerk now. Looking back at Yuri he had to remind himself that the youth didn’t know Yuuri, didn’t know how gentle he really was, and that as harsh as they were his reactions were perfectly logical. But he was going to change that.

Strolling over, he grabbed Yuri’s wrist and dragged him from Chris’ grasp and towards Yuuri. The boy immediately began to yell and struggle, once again demanding to be let go. Victor could hear the note of fear in his voice but he ignored it. Talking to Yuri never worked, actions is what the youth understood and it was the only way he would see he had nothing to fear from Yuuri.

Yuuri lifted his head suddenly as they approached, his eyes wide. He took a few steps back, but Victor held a hand out to indicate it was okay. Stopping a few feet from Yuuri, he kept a firm hold and Yuri’s wrist and forced his hand forward. The youth struggled harder, cursing and calling Victor every fowl name he knew, which turned out to be a lot but Victor ignored him. He looked at Yuuri, who was giving him a quizzical expression, and gave a small nod towards Yuri’s hand. Yuuri looked at it, then at Victor, then back at the hand and after a moment he understood. Going slowly, he inched forward, stretching his neck out and pressing his nose against Yuri’s hand. The boy froze. His eyes were wide as he stared at Yuuri like he was seeing him for the first time. After a moment Victor took a chance and released his wrist. Yuri didn’t move, didn’t speak, he simply continued to stare at Yuuri. After a minute or two Yuuri pulled his head back and lifted it so that his eyes met Yuri’s, tilting his head slightly. Eventually Yuri remember he was still holding his hand out and let it drop to his side. Mirroring Yuuri, e tilted his head to one side as if he were trying to puzzle something out. Then suddenly he turned to Victor and gave him a hard kick in the shin. He should have seen that one coming.

“You bastard! The hell kind of stunt was that?! I thought you were going to have it eat my hand or something!”

Victor tsked. “Like he would eat a scrawny thing like you.” That earned him another kick. Yuri huffed and crossed his arms before looking at Yuuri again, glaring at him a moment before speaking.

“So what’s he doing here anyway?”

“Ah… Well long story short, I shot him down, couldn’t bring myself to finish him off, and more or less nursed him back to health.” He spoke as if there were the most common thing in the world, like people regularly went out and tended to injured dragons.

“And that’s where I came in,” Chris said as he strode over. “His wing was injured so Victor came and got me, but now that it’s all healed up the two are planning to fly off into the sunset together.”

“Hah?! You’re gonna run off with a _dragon?!”_

Victor face-palmed. “Must you be so lewd Chris?”

Chris brought his hands up in an innocent shrug. “How is it lewd? You yourself told me you were planning on leaving with him.”

“Yes but not like _that.”_

“Then what exactly is it you’re going to do?”

“I… Well…” He glanced over at Yuuri, who tilted his head to the side, and sighed. “It’s not really my story to tell. Yuuri?”

“What?”

“Not you.”

Yuri opened his mouth to say something, but paused. He raised an eyebrow at Victor, looked to Yuuri, then his eyes went wide in understanding.

“The _dragon’s_ name is Yuri?”

“Surprised me too,” Chris said.

Victor ignored them, his attention was on Yuuri who was looking at him with uncertainty. He walked over and knelt down, putting a hand on the side of his head.

“I know this isn’t something you like to talk about,” he said quietly. “You don’t have to tell them anything if you don’t want to. I can explain it to them later if you would prefer.”

Yuuri looked past him towards the other two who were watching them intently. He looked back at Victor then looked down in thought. When he raised his head again Victor could see a determination in his eyes, he shook his head. Victor smiled and nodded in understanding.

“Okay.”

He stood and took a step back before turning completely and going back over to Chris and Yuri. Chris took Yuri’s shoulders and turned them both around, Yuri tried to shrug him off.

“What’s going on? Get off.” Chris kept a firm hold.

“Just hush up and wait.”

There was a shifting noise behind them, but other than that it was silent. Chris kept Yuri from looking around, and Victor could see his friend watching him out of the corner of his eye. After several minutes of silence a voice spoke up.

“Um… Okay you can turn around.”

Yuri yanked free of Chris’ grip and whipped around, the other two turned around much more calmly. Yuuri had shifted back into his human form. He was fiddling with the rope around the waist of his pants, trying to figure out how to tie it. Victor shook his head before going over to help him.

“Wait. Wha- _huh?” _Yuri sputtered. “The hell is going on? Who’s this?”__

__“You are not that dense…” Chris deadpanned, Yuri glared at him. Victor finished tying the rope around Yuuri’s waist before turning towards them, his eyes landing on Yuri._ _

__“Yuri, this is Yuuri.”_ _

__Yuri’s eyebrow shot up in surprise then quickly narrowed. He stalked over to him, getting right in Yuuri’s face, Yuuri leaned back._ _

__“So you’re a dragon.”_ _

__It was more a statement than a question, and Yuuri wasn’t sure what to do. He glanced at Victor, who was merely watching the exchange in amusement, before shifting his gaze back to the youth whose face was inches from his._ _

__“Um… yes?”_ _

__Yuri leaned away, he looked him up and down before scoffing._ _

__“You’re not special,” he declared before stalking back over to Chris. He crossed his arms and hunched his shoulders. Yuuri blinked after him before looking at Victor, completely baffled. Victor grinned._ _

__“That actually means he likes you.”_ _

__“Shut up old man!”_ _

__“Um… If you say so…”_ _

__Yuri huffed. “So what’s he supposed to be telling us anyway?”_ _

__Yuuri bit his lower lip and looked at Victor, now that he was actually faced with talking about it again Victor could see the hesitation in his eyes. He offered him an encouraging smile and nodded. Yuuri returned the smile before looking to the other two again._ _

__“My home was attacked, and my friends and family captured. Victor is going to help me find and rescue them.”_ _

__It wasn’t a long explanation, but it was all that needed to be said at the moment. Victor watched the other two, trying to gauge their reactions. Yuri was looking at them like they were both nuts—which they very well might be—but Chris looked thoughtful. When Victor raised an eyebrow at him he spoke._ _

__“These weren’t your run of the mill hunters, were they?” Victor shook his head. “Do you even know where to look?”_ _

__“I know where their main base is, it’s as good a place as any to start.”_ _

__Yuuri looked at him in surprise. “But you said you didn’t-”_ _

__“I don’t think that’s where they took your family Yuuri, but we might be able to get some information.”_ _

__“If you don’t get killed first. Victor this is crazy even for you. Look I’m sorry to hear about what happened, but the chances of you actually finding his pack are slim, surely you know that.”_ _

__He did know. There was no telling where the hunters had taken Yuuri’s family, they could search for years and never find them, but Victor didn’t care. He knew how it felt to lose those you loved. His parents could never come back, but there was a chance Yuuri could see his loved ones again, and that alone was enough to steel his resolve._ _

__Glancing over at Yuuri, he saw that he was hunched into his shoulders with his gaze towards the ground. Without even thinking about it he reached over and took his hand, giving it a comforting squeeze. Yuuri’s hand twitched in his but he didn’t pull away. When he looked up Victor offered a smile, and was relieved when he received a small one in return._ _

__“I don’t care about the odds Chris,” he said as he turned back to his friend. “I’m going to help him find his family, no matter how long it takes.”_ _

__Chris’ gaze flicked to their joined hands before focusing on Victor again, Yuri was pointedly looking off in another direction but Victor knew he was still listening. A long silence stretched out between them before Chris finally let out a sigh._ _

__“I’m not going to be able to talk you out of this.” It wasn’t a question, but Victor shook his head anyway. “When do you plan on leaving?”_ _

__“We haven’t talked about that yet.”_ _

__“Well I’d give it a few days to let Yuuri get the strength in his wing back.”_ _

__Victor nodded. Chris eyed his friend a moment then sighed again and smiled, he threw his arm around Yuri’s shoulders._ _

__“Come Yuri, let’s get back to the clinic. You my young apprentice have a date with the mop for the next week.”_ _

__Yuri let out an indignant yell as he tried to squirm out of Chris’ grasp. Chris shot the two of them a wink before turning and dragging the still struggling youth along with him. Victor let out a chuckle as Yuri’s yells faded away._ _

__“Well that was certainly something.” He looked over at Yuuri, frowning when he saw his gaze once against fixed on the ground. “Yuuri?” Yuuri flinched but didn’t look up, Victor turned to face him fully. “Yuuri what’s wrong?”_ _

__“You don’t have to do this you know…”_ _

__Victor blinked. “Do what?”_ _

__“Help me… It… It’s a lot to ask and… And there’s no guarantee we’ll even find them. I’m sure it’ll be dangerous, and-”_ _

__“Hey, hey, that’s enough of that.” He brought his hands up to cup Yuuri’s cheeks, tilting his head up to look at him. “You’re not asking anything of me, this is something I want to do.”_ _

__“But… _why?_ Why are you doing this? Why are you willing to risk your life for-”_ _

__He stopped, completely frozen as Victor pressed his lips gently to his forehead. He stood like that for several heartbeats before pulling away and locking his gaze with Yuuri’s, his eyes were wide and his cheeks pink._ _

__“Because you have a chance to see your family again, and I want to see that happen.”_ _

__They stared at each other for a long time, though exactly how long Victor didn’t know. He could see Yuuri’s eyes searching him, trying to understand his motives. When he saw those brown/gold eyes tearing up he released Yuuri’s cheeks and pulled him into his arms. Yuuri gripped Victor’s shirt as he buried his face into his shoulder and sobbed. Victor brought a hand up to the back of his head, stroking his hair gently. Yuuri buried deeper into his shoulder._ _

__“We’re going to find them Yuuri,” he whispered. “I promise.”_ _

__

__~~~~~~~~~~_ _

__

__The next few days were spent preparing. Victor made a point to bring whatever fresh food he still had in his house to the clearing so it could be eaten since there was no way of knowing how long they would be gone. This was helped up Yuri, who insisted on coming along each day to “make sure the dragon was trustworthy” as he claim. In truth, he was like a small child fascinated by something new, even more so because that something new shared his name. He would never admit to it of course, and Victor chose not to push the topic with the easily agitated youth. Instead he would simply smile in amusement when the boy wasn’t looking._ _

__Their first goal was to find the dragon hunters, and to do that they would travel south to where their main base was located. The hope was that the hunters kept records of what their members got up to, or at the very least could find information on what they did with captured dragon’s. If that didn’t work out then they would travel to where Yuuri’s family had last been and try to track the hunters progress from there. Victor had been hesitant to suggest this since he knew returning to that place would be hard for Yuuri, not to mention whatever trail the hunters had left would be long cold. But Yuuri had easily agreed, saying the idea made sense, though Victor didn’t miss the pained, distant look in the young dragon’s eyes when he looked away._ _

__“So what’s your plan for when you actually _find_ the hunters?” Yuri asked on one of the days. “I mean how do you intend on freeing the dragon’s they captured with just two of you when one of you sticks out like a sore thumb?”_ _

__“We’ll cross that bridge when we get there,” Victor said with a shrug, which earned him a flat stare._ _

__“You’re seriously counting on this idiot to help save your friends?”_ _

__Yuuri gave a weak chuckle._ _

__That had been two days ago. Nothing more had been said on the subject, and now it was the day before they had decided to leave. Victor had left Makkachin with Chris, and now stood in the middle of the clearing with his eyes turned skyward. Per Chris’ suggestion Yuuri had spent whatever time he could flying to get strength back in his wing, though to watch him you would never guess he had been injured. The wind ruffling through his feathers, the sun glimmering off his scales, the powerful beat of his wings, he was breathtaking._ _

__Eventually Yuuri noticed him. He circled around a final time before coming down to land before him, Victor smiled._ _

__“You really are a sight to see when you’re in the air. I could watch you all day and never grow tired of it.”_ _

__Yuuri rolled his head—a gesture meant to mimic an eye roll—and nudged him in the stomach with his nose. Victor flinched back slightly and laughed._ _

__“I mean it, it’s amazing to watch you up there. I can understand what you mean when you say flying makes you feel free.”_ _

__Yuuri tilted his head to the side, looked to the sky, then looked at Victor again. He tilted his head to the other side, studied him a moment, then nodded. Victor raised an inquisitive eyebrow. Yuuri nudged him gently in the side before moving to stand beside him, he looked up at him expectedly. Now it was Victor’s turn to tilt his head._ _

__“What?”_ _

__Yuuri nudged him again before lowering himself closer to the ground. Victor blinked at him, unsure of what it was he wanted. He was about to say as much, but the moment he opened his mouth to speak it clicked._ _

__“You… want me to get on?” Yuuri nodded. “I… are you sure? I mean, you’ve never flown with anyone on your back before have you?”_ _

__Yuuri tilted his head and gave him a look. He knew what that look was asking and swore he saw a twinkle of amusement in his eye._ _

___“What’s wrong Victor? Scared?”_ _ _

__Pursing his lips, he stepped closer. He considered a moment before swinging a leg over and settling himself at the base of his neck right above his wings. Yuuri shifted until he was comfortable with the foreign weight before rising back up. Looking back at Victor, he brought his tail up and brushed against his hand with the feathery end. Victor understood the gesture, Yuuri wanted him to hold on but he wasn’t sure where to grip. He didn’t want to pull at his feathers, and didn’t think simply putting his hands on the sides of his neck would offer much purchase. Eventually he settled for gently wrapping his arms around Yuuri’s neck._ _

__“Is this all right?”_ _

__He felt Yuuri stiffen under him, but the dragon nodded all the same. He spread his wings and kicked off the ground, taking to the air once again. The sudden jolt made Victor tighten his grip around Yuuri’s neck and close his eyes. He could feel each beat of Yuuri’s wings as they climbed higher, which only made him cling tighter. Yuuri made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a laugh, but Victor was too focused on not falling off to comment on it. Eventually the awkward up and down bob evened out, Yuuri made a noise, and Victor cracked one eye open. The other quickly followed suit._ _

__“Wow…”_ _

__Yuuri had settled into an even glide, his wings spread wide. The lush green of the forest stretched out beneath them as far as Victor could see. To one side he could see the river where he fished, while in another he could see the smoke of chimney’s that he knew was his village. And in another direction still he could just make out the outline of the mountains to the north. Seeing everything like this felt like he had entered a completely different world, one that the longer he was in the less he wanted to leave. No wonder Yuuri had been so afraid of never flying again._ _

__“This is amazing…” he said, slightly breathless._ _

__Yuuri made a trilling sound before giving his wings a few strong flaps to lift them higher, Victor this time didn’t have to cling to Yuuri’s neck. He didn’t know how long they were up there, but when Yuuri began to circle around and bring them down to land he would be lying if he said he wasn’t disappointed. If he could he would have stayed up there forever, but they had a long journey ahead of them and Yuuri needed to conserve his energy. When they touched back down Victor waited until Yuuri lowered himself before swinging his leg over and off. His legs felt a little shaky but thankfully he remained standing. Yuuri lifted his head back up to look at him and he smiled. He didn’t think about his next action until he was halfway through it, and by then it was too late. Stepping closer, he placed his hands on either side of Yuuri’s head and leaned forward until his forehead was resting against Yuuri’s, eyes closed._ _

__“Thank you for sharing that with me…” he said quietly._ _

__Yuuri stood still for several moments, then gently pressed back against him, reciprocating the touch. If he couldn’t stay forever in the sky then he thought staying like this would be nice too._ _

__

__~~~~~~~~~~_ _

__

__“I still think you’re both nuts.”_ _

__Victor sighed. “Yes Yura, you’ve made that perfectly clear.”_ _

__“And yet you’re still going through with your crazy plan that’s hardly a plan!”_ _

__“He does have a point you know,” Chris chimed in, Victor sighed again._ _

__He and Yuri had insisted on coming along to see him and Yuuri off, not that Victor had put up much of a fight to keep them away, but the entire trip to the clearing Yuri hadn’t stopped expressing his “concerns” over Victor and Yuuri’s plan to search for the hunters. He lost count of how many times the words “stupid” and “idiotic” had come out of the youth’s mouth, Chris up until now had been silent. It wasn’t that Victor didn’t understand their concerns, he did, he knew he and Yuuri were taking a risk, but at the moment they didn’t really have a lot of options._ _

__“It was Yuuri’s decision. He’s worried about his family and wants to be sure they’re okay. You make it sound like we’re going to just charge right on in.”_ _

__“Isn’t that basically what you’re doing?” Yuri asked flatly._ _

__“We’re going to find them and see what we’re dealing with. Once we have a better idea of that we’ll come up with a plan.”_ _

__“Hope that plan includes an army…” Yuri muttered._ _

__Victor sighed as they reached the brush surrounding the clearing. As he pushed it back he glanced at his companions._ _

__“Look, I understand you’re both worried, but it’ll be fine. There’s nothing to worry about.”_ _

__Chris and Yuri exchanged looks as he stepped through the brush then moved to follow, but had to immediately stop to keep from colliding into his back when Victor stopped dead in his tracks._ _

__“Victor?” Chris asked._ _

__“What was that you were saying about not worrying?” Yuri asked._ _

__Both he and Victor were staring straight ahead into the clearing, Chris followed their gaze and let out a breath._ _

__“Oh…”_ _

__The dragon they were looking at was not Yuuri._ _


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New allies, new plans, and thoughts of the future.

The area was completely silent. Chris and Yuri stood frozen on either side of him, the dragon hadn’t moved since lifting its head from a bundle of cloth Victor belatedly realized was the blanket he had given Yuuri. Even the wind had seemed to realize the severity of the situation and decided not to blow. Victor wasn’t even sure if any of them were breathing. Why was it here? And more importantly, where was Yuuri?

The dragon was smaller than Yuuri, though not by much, its body not as long and was a warm caramel color. Unlike Yuuri it had no feathers, and its wings were the leathery skin he was more familiar with for a dragon’s wings. Two dragons in a month in an area that had not seen them in ages? What were the chances of that? Something was nagging at the back of Victor’s mind, something important, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.

And he didn’t get the chance to as everything unfroze. The dragon crouched low to the ground, its gray eyes flashing dangerously as it let out a growl. Victor felt a hand clasp his arm tightly.

“Victor…” Chris murmured. “Victor we need to get out of here right now.”

Victor didn’t move. They would never outrun a dragon anyway, but something else was keeping him there. A second dragon couldn’t be a coincidence, it had to be here for a reason. His eyes quickly scanned the area, noticing the disturbed earth, the fire he had built was in shambles, and the few utensils he had left for Yuuri were scattered about. Something had happened here, had Yuuri and this dragon fought? He didn’t think so, the dragon didn’t have a scratch on it, and as timid as Yuuri was Victor was certain he would fight back to protect himself. His eyes settled on the blanket, the dragon had been nosing at it when Victor entered the clearing, _sniffing_ it as if it were looking for something.

Tracking something.

Suddenly the nagging at the back of his head provided a name, a name that he prayed to every God known to man would diffuse the situation before it exploded.

“Phichit…?” he ventured.

The dragon immediately stopped growling, it’s head perked up slightly before tilting to the side in obvious question. Victor felt the tension in his shoulders ease slightly. He took a tentative step forward, Chris yanked on his arm to hold him back.

“Victor what are you doing?” he hissed in alarm. Victor spoke over his shoulder, keeping his eyes on the dragon.

“It’s all right Chris.”

He could practically feel his friends gaze burning into the back of his head, he expected him to argue, but after a moment he slowly released his arm. Victor focused his full attention back on the dragon, taking another step forward.

“You’re Phichit right? Yuuri’s friend?” The dragon’s head lifted completely at that and Victor knew he was right. He stepped forward again. “You took three younglings with you to find somewhere safe, an island. Did you find it?”

He had to let this dragon, Phichit, know that he meant no harm. That he was someone he could trust, because Yuuri trusted him. He hoped revealing things only Yuuri could have told him would do that. Phichit watched him carefully as he drew closer, he hadn’t moved so Victor hoped that was a good sign. When he was still a good few feet away he stopped and held his hand out in invitation for Phichit to close the remaining distance if he chose to.

“I’m a friend of Yuuri’s too. I don’t know where he is, but if I’m right and you didn’t make this mess then I think something bad happened to him.”

Phichit looked at his hand then back at him. He tilted his head to one side then the other as if he were puzzling him out. Victor remained unmoving, hand still outstretched, the ball was in Phichit’s court now. Finally, after several long, tense minutes he crept closer, head lowered slightly. From behind him Victor heard sharp intakes of breath, Chris and Yuri were probably on the verge of fainting. Or running. Phichit paid them no mind and Victor kept his eyes fixed on the dragon before him. When he was close enough Phichit stretched his head out and sniffed at Victor’s hand. Pulling back slightly in a gesture Victor assumed was surprise. Phichit looked at him, then at his hand, then back at him. Tilting his head to the side he stepped closer, sniffing at his shirt. He looked towards the blanket then looked at Victor once more. After a moment be stepped back, sat down, and nodded. Victor let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding and turned back to his companions.

“It’s all right, everything’s fine. This is a friend of Yuuri’s.”

Christophe was the first to approach, though he was eyeing Phichit warily, Yuri followed soon after.

“Are you some sort of dragon whisperer now or something?” the youth asked, Victor chuckled.

“It’s certainly starting to seem that way isn’t it?” He turned his attention back to Phichit. “Was it like this when you got here?” The dragon nodded. “And you didn’t see Yuuri at all?”

A shake of the head, he had been expecting that. With a sinking feeling he moved further into the clearing, going towards scattered debris that had once been the fire he had built. Kneeling down he examined the disturbed ground. There were faint boot prints, as well as claw marks—Yuuri had been in his true form—and he could see evidence of something large being dragged into the woods. With a frown, he stood and followed the path to the edge of the clearing where the brush was obviously disturbed. He brought a hand up and touched one of the broken branches.

“Victor?” Chris called out.

Victor turned to face him; he, Yuri, and Phichit were all watching him. He made his way back over to them.

“Dragon hunters.” he said, Phichit let out a low snarl.

“But… how?” Chris asked. “Why would dragon hunters be all the way out here?”

“They’re master trackers, they’ve probably been following Yuuri’s trail this entire time. Dammit I should have expected this.”

“Now’s not the time to be placing blame. What are you going to do?”

“What do you mean what am I going to do? I’m going to find him.”

“And just how are you going to do that?” Yuri piped up. “Your rescue mission plan was crazy enough when it was the two of you, now it’s just you and you _still_ have no idea where to even look.”

Victor looked at him a moment then looked over at Phichit.

“I know you have absolutely no reason to trust me,” he said, the dragon focused his attention on him. “Yuuri and I were planning to seek out the hunters and rescue the rest of your group. I made a promise to Yuuri we would do this, and I intend to keep that promise. Will you help me?”

Phichit tilted his head to the side, studying him. Whether or not Phichit agreed to help him he was going to look for Yuuri no matter how long it took. He didn’t know how he would manage on his own but he refused to abandon Yuuri, he would figure it out somehow.

After several minutes Phichit stood and approached him. He stopped with their faces a foot away from each other and regarded him with another tilt of his head. Victor met his eyes, refusing to look away as he tried to silently project the sincerity of his intentions. After a long, tense moment Phichit straightened his head then leaned forward and poked him in the forehead with his nose. It didn’t hurt, but it still made Victor blink in surprise and lift a hand to his head.

“Is… Is that a yes…?”

Phichit opened his mouth in what Victor realized after a moment was a grin and nodded. He let out a sigh of relief.

“Thank you.”

“I hope you’re not sticking to your storm the castle plan,” Yuri said. “Cause if there was a contest for world’s stupidest plan you would win hands down.”

“Yura…”

“Victor he’s right,” Chris chimed in. “What you’re planning is suicide and you know it. You need help.”

“And where am I supposed to get help Chris? If I go around asking for help in rescuing a family of dragon’s they’ll think I’ve lost my mind.”

“Well there must be _someone.”_

Phichit suddenly perked up, he leaned forward and nudged Victor’s arm. Victor looked at him.

“What is it?” Phichit nudged him again, a little harder this time. “Phichit I don’t understand.”

The dragon let out a huff of frustration. He looked around, looked to the sky, then back to Victor, then to the ground. Victor looked over at Chris who shrugged. When he looked back to Phichit the dragon was looking at him again. He gave his arm another nudge before turning to stand beside him and lowering himself close to the ground. Victor recognized this action

“Looks like he wants you do go with him,” Chris said.

That much was obvious, but he didn’t say so. What he didn’t know was _why_ Phichit was so eager to get him to go along, or where the dragon was planning on taking him. Phichit was looking at him expectantly, waiting for him to get on. When he didn’t move he swatted him with his tail impatiently. Victor stared at him a moment longer before a thought slowly worked its way into his head.

“You know where we can get help?” When Phichit nodded the final piece of the thought clicked into place. “You found the island.”

Phichit huffed in obvious annoyance but nodded, he shifted impatiently and nudged Victor with his wing, once again urging him to get on. A sense of relief washed over him in that moment. The island Yuuri had told him about, the one Yuuri only knew about in stories was real, and Phichit had found it. They would be able to get help in rescuing Yuuri and the others, but more importantly Yuuri and his family would have somewhere safe to go once freed. That was all the encouragement he needed. Without hesitating Victor swung his leg over Phichit’s back and settled in as he had done the day before with Yuuri.

“Whoa wait hold on,” Chris said. He hurried over and grabbed Victor’s arm. “What’s going on? What island what are you talking about?”

“There’s an island out in the eastern sea that is a safe haven for dragons. After getting attacked Yuuri and Phichit were heading there to get help, but separated to try and throw off the hunters.”

“ _That’s_ your plan?” Yuri asked. “Just show up at an island full of dragon’s? Are you an idiot or something?”

“There are humans there too Yura. Look I don’t have time to explain, we have to go. This is the best chance we’ll have of rescuing Yuuri and the others before it’s too late.”

“Victor you don’t know if you can trust these people. They could kill you the moment you get there.”

Victor glanced at Phichit, who was watching them and gave no indication one way or the other, then looked back at his friend.

“It’s a chance I have to take Chris.”

Chris stared at him hard, silently urging him to think it over, to reconsider. When Victor didn’t budge he let out a long sigh, released his arm, and stepped back.

“I hope you know what you’re doing…”

Victor flashed him a smile before turning his attention to Phichit. “Let’s go.”

Phichit nodded and spread his wing, Chris and Yuri moved further back and a few strong beats of his wings later they were air born. Phichit circled twice, allowing Victor time to wave to the two down below before settling on his direction and taking off.

The trees rushed by in a blur of green below them, eventually giving way to the bright blue waters of the ocean. Despite their urgency Victor found himself staring in awe. The ocean from this vantage was both incredible and intimidating as it seemed to stretch on for eternity all around them. Looking over his shoulder he caught a glimpse of trees before the disappeared from sight completely. He wanted to see the rest of the world like this. When this was all said and done he would have to bring the idea up with Yuuri.

He blinked and looked forward again as that thought set in. The thought had come so easily, almost naturally, as if staying by Yuuri’s side was the most obvious option out there. But was it? When the topic of Yuuri leaving had come up Victor hadn’t had the courage to ask him to stay, knowing it wasn’t his place to ask such a thing. Not when Yuuri had so much on the line. But what about when this was all over? Once Yuuri and his family were safe could Victor remain by his side? He would have to leave Torvel, that much was certain, and he found he was okay with that. The idea of leaving the place he had called home for so long didn’t bring him the sadness or uncertainty that it should, and right then he knew he had made his decision.

But… would Yuuri want him there? He felt the two of them had formed a bond these last two weeks, but the young dragon had a habit of keeping his thoughts to himself so there was no way to really know. Yuuri could have simply been tolerating him since he was grounded with an injured wing. Once he and his family were safe he could dismiss Victor. If that were to happen then…

He pushed those thoughts from his mind, now was hardly the time to be thinking about such things. The only thing that mattered right now was rescuing Yuuri and his family. Once that happened then he could worry about what came next.

They flew for hours, Victor didn’t know how many, but his entire body was sore from sitting in the same position for so long and his lower half was starting to go numb. Shifting a little to try and alleviate his sore muscles even a little bit he leaned forward.

“Are we getting close?” he called over the rush of the wind.

Phichit nodded and inclined his head forward, Victor followed the motion. Up ahead of them he could see what looked like a large rock jutting out of the water that grew larger by the second. Sitting straighter to get a better view, he watched at the rock—that he now realized was an island—came into view.

The island was tall, the cliff they were approaching rose several hundred feet from the water while the far end of the island continued to climb towards the sky like a mountain. The island’s surface was lush and green with gentle slopes and steep hills. On the flattest parts of land, he could see houses that made up a village even smaller than his own, and as his eyes traveled upward he felt his breath catch in his throat. At least a dozen dragons of varying size were flying around the highest peak of the island while even more were settled along the rock ledges. Seeing so many dragons in one place suddenly he felt nervous, maybe he _should_ have thought this through a little more. Phichit made a soft trilling noise as if sensing his discomfort, which he probably could. When he looked down he saw Phichit looking back at him with a look he hoped meant, “Everything will be fine” and offered the dragon a smile of thanks.

Phichit tilted down slightly and started their decent. Even closer now Victor could see people milling about, though upon the sight of the approaching dragon they had all stopped and looked towards them. Phichit came down and landed in a large open patch near the first few house, lowering himself so Victor could get off. He did so shakily, his near asleep legs threatening to give out on him. Phichit pressed against his side, offering himself for support while Victor regained his balance, he smiled appreciatively. While the feeling slowly came back to his legs, Victor looked towards the village and felt his skin prickle slightly when he noticed that all eyes were on them. Or more specifically, on him. Curious looks were aimed his way, no one seemed to know what to make of his arrival. He glanced around nervously, wondering if he should say something, when someone finally stepped forward. The man that approached was around his height with defined features and long, wavy brown hair tied back in a ponytail. He glanced to Phichit as he approached before turning his attention back to Victor.

“Hello there,” he said. His voice was friendly, but cautious. “When Phichit said he was going to look for his friend you’re not what I was expecting.”

“Ah.” Victor rubbed the back of his head. “I’m not exactly what he was expecting either. Wait. Did you say he “said” he was going to look for a friend?”

He looked at Phichit with wide eyes, who simply tilted his head to the side. The man chuckling brought his attention back to him.

“Dragons are intelligent creatures, they have their own language the same as human’s do. Though learning it takes a lot of practice and a keen ear. But tell me, what brings you to our island?”

Victor filed away asking more about dragon language for another time.

“Yuuri, the friend Phichit was looking for, he was taken by dragon hunters. Probably the same ones that attacked them in the first place. Phichit brought me here to get help in rescuing him and his family.”

The man frowned as murmurs rippled through the people close enough to hear their conversation. He glanced at Phichit who gave a nod before turning his attention back to Victor.

“What’s your name?”

“Victor.”

“Victor,” the man repeated. “I’m Celestio. Come with me to my house, we can talk more there.”

The man turned and began walking away, Victor quickly followed with Phichit right behind him. The people gathered parted as they made their way through, whispering and glancing his way as he passed. Victor really couldn’t blame them for being suspicious of him, but that didn’t make their actions any less unnerving. 

The houses he passed were small and simple, not unlike the ones back in his own village. What stood out about them however were the large, heavy looking archways built over each house. Before he had the chance to really wonder about them their purpose became clear as a dragon glided down to land on one and watch him curiously as he passed. Looking around he saw other dragons of varying shapes, sizes, and colors. Never in his life would he had imagined there were so many different kinds. There were dragons that walked on four legs while others walked on two. Dragons with wings and without. Some had spines along their bodies, some had feathers like Yuuri, and some had nothing at all like Phichit. He even saw a few with two heads!

Some were just milling about, while others were actively helping the people of the village by either carrying things or lifting items too heavy for the humans. Off to one edge of the village was a building that Victor quickly realized was a forge had a couple different dragons sitting by it. One was currently blowing fire on to whatever it was the blacksmith was working on. Co-inhabiting, just as Yuuri had said.

“Quite a sight isn’t it?”

Victor startled and looked forward to see Celestino watching him from over his shoulder. He nodded.

“It’s incredible. I never would have thought something like this was possible.”

“It’s taken a lot to get here, and even more to keep it. I’ll be honest, the only reason you weren’t immediately taken into custody was because you arrived here with Phichit.”

Victor glanced over his shoulder at the dragon who gave him a look that suggested he was amused by the whole thing. He gave him a smile of gratitude.

“How do you keep people from discovering this place?” he asked as he turned his attention back to Celestino. “Surely ships pass by here all the time.”

“Not as often as you would think. This island is fairly remote, it’s why we settled here in the first place, and most ships that do come around usually pass us by because of the cliffs. There _is_ a small cove on the far side of the island that would allow a ship to dock, but it’s hard to see unless you know where to look. On the rare occasion a ship actually does land here well. A dozen or so dragons swooping down tends to send even the most hardened sailor’s running back to their ship with their tails between their legs.”

Victor laughed. “I suppose it would.”

“Here we are.”

Victor looked past him towards a house much like the ones they had been passing, although its placement at the end of the village confirmed what Victor had already assumed, that Celestino was the one in charge here. When they reached the door Celestino put his hand on the knob but paused and looked back at Victor.

“You… might want to step aside.”

Victor looked at him questionably but did as instructed. Celestino looked back to the door, turned the knob, and flung it open before quickly stepping aside himself. Three blurs came shooting out the door almost the moment it was opened, going straight towards Phichit. The dragon crouched low as if bracing for what seemed to be an inevitable impact, but at the last moment he hopped up, using his wings to rise high enough for the blurs passed harmlessly under him. He landed back on the ground and turned as the three forms came to a stop and Victor could see that they were actually three small dragons. They turned to Phichit with indignant cries before going to him again, this time the older dragon allowed the younger ones to plow him over, making quite a racket as they hopped and fluttered around him. However, when Phichit gave what Victor could best describe as a solemn shake of his head the three settled on the ground and looked down.

“What’s that about?”

“Ah… They were asking about the one Phichit went to go find. You said his name was Yuuri?” Victor nodded. “Those three are the younglings of two of the dragons that were captured by the hunters. Apparently, they’re very close to Yuuri.”

Victor nodded as a wave of guilt rushed over him, he began to wonder what would have happened if he hadn’t shot Yuuri down that night. Would he have made it to the island? Would they have already rescued his family? Could he have been living here peacefully rather than confined to a small clearing? He wouldn’t have been taken by the hunters that was for sure. His one thoughtless, anger induced act had caused so many problems, maybe he _didn’t_ deserve to stay by Yuuri’s side. He would only be a constant reminder of everything that had happened, and Yuuri certainly didn’t need-

His thoughts were cut off when he found one of the young dragons suddenly in his face. _Right_ in his face, mere inches separated them. The young dragon made a series of small, rather garbled sounding noises before looking at him expectantly. The other two flew up to join the first.

“Er…” Victor said, looking between the three. He heard Celestino chuckle.

“She asked who you are and why you smell like Yuuri.”

Victor glanced at him then returned his attention to the three young dragons.

“I’m Victor. And I’m… I’m a friend.”

Victor took a startled step back when the three young dragons sudden exploded into excited, garbled babbling. He looked quickly between then, unsure of which one to focus on. Eventually Celestino came to his rescue, though he looked very amused.

“All right little ones. Victor and I need to talk for a bit, and then you can interrogate him to your hearts content.”

The three made sounds of acknowledgment before turning and fluttering away towards the village. Victor watched them go before looking at Celestino.

“Interrogate?”

“They were asking you about Yuuri. Where he is, if he’s okay, how you know him. If at all possible I’d rather they didn’t know about Yuuri being taken by the hunters.” Phichit made a noise, causing Celestino to sigh. “I know it’s not right Phichit, but think of how they were when you first arrived here. The only reason they perked up was because you said you were going to look for Yuuri. I don’t want to see them like that again.”

Phichit looked away, clearly not happy with Celestino’s request, but after a few moments he gave a reluctant nod. Celestino looks to Victor.

“Come inside. I have a feeling there’s a lot to talk about.”

Victor nodded and followed the man into the house, Phichit once again right behind him. The one room house was small, but managed to fit the three of them comfortably. Phichit took up a spot by the wall while Celestino directed Victor to a small table in the middle of the room. After making some tea the other man joined him.

“So, start from the beginning. How did you get involved in all this?”

So Victor did. With a deep breath he launched into the story, starting with how Yuuri had flown overhead one night while he was out hunting, and how rather than being sensible and hiding until the dragon passed he had allowed his hatred towards dragons to get the better of him and took a shot that miraculously took Yuuri down. He saw Phichit shift at that part but didn’t paused to address it. He continued the story with how the following day he went looking for the dragon he shot down, and found a winged human that he quickly realized _was_ the dragon he had shot down. Celestino’s eyes widened a bit at that, but the man kept silent. Victor went on to explain how he hadn’t been able to bring himself to finish Yuuri off, and instead intended to leave him to his own devices. But something kept bringing him back to the downed dragon, and in the end he treated his wound and gradually Yuuri began to trust him. He explained about Yuuri being unable to fly because of his wing, how he had brought Chris in to tend to it, and how while it healed he and Yuuri made plans to seek out the hunters and rescue his family. But when he returned the day they were set to leave Yuuri was gone and Phichit was there in his place.

“And then when I convinced Phichit he could trust me and Chris insisted I needed to find help he brought me here. Yuuri told me about the island, and when Phichit confirmed that he had found it I knew coming here was my best shot of rescuing Yuuri and his family.”

When he finished Victor let out a sigh and took a sip of his tea that had gone cold while he talked. He looked at Celestino, waiting for him to respond. The other man was silent for a long time before finally speaking.

“Wow. That’s quite the story. Though I’m curious, how exactly _were_ you planning on finding the hunters?”

“I know where their main base it. We were going to start there in the hopes of gathering information. If that didn’t pan out we were going to go to where Yuuri and his family were attacked and try to pick up their trail from there.”

Celestino raised an eyebrow. “How do you know where their base is?”

Victor sighed, the moment Celestino had asked about their plans he had known this was coming. “Because I almost joined them a few years back.” Phichit bristled at that. He sat rigid, his eyes fixed hard on Victor.

Celestino glanced at him but otherwise paid him no mind. “And why didn’t you join them?”

“I could say it was because I realized going out and killing dragons wouldn’t bring my parents back, but that had nothing to do with it. Honestly, I really don’t have a reason why I didn’t join. I just didn’t. Though for what it’s worth, I’m glad I didn’t.”

Celestino gave a nod. He glanced over at Phichit who had relaxed, but was still eyeing Victor warily. Victor didn’t begrudge him for it. He would have been uncertain of him too after hearing that.

“I realize I’m an outsider here, and that I really have no right to come seeking help. But I made a promise to Yuuri that we would rescue his family, and I have no intention of going back on that promise. So please.” At this he stood and offered a low bow. “I ask that you help me in any way you can.”

The silence that followed his declaration was almost deafening. Victor kept his eyes down, so he had no idea what sort of look Celestino was giving him, if he was giving him one at all. The silence stretched on, Victor was beginning to think coming here had been a waste, and then suddenly Celestino was laughing. Victor’s head snapped up. Celestino’s face was alight with mirth, one arm was wrapped around his stomach as he laughed. Victor stared at him, mouth hanging open.

“Such a declaration!” the man exclaimed. He continued to laugh a few moments longer before slowly calming down, letting out an amused breath. “I almost feel bad telling you we were already planning on rescuing them.”

Victor straightened. “Really?”

Celestino nodded. “Things need to be finalized, and now that Phichit is back we can do just that. He was adamant about Yuuri being here before we did anything.”

Victor glanced at Phichit then looked at Celestino again. “So what’s your plan?”

“Later. I’m sure you’re tired from the journey here. Take some time to relax, go out and see the village. I’ll gather everyone tonight to make preparations and then we’ll leave first thing in the morning.”

Victor didn’t like the idea of waiting another day, but he didn’t see what choice he had. And realistically it made sense. He had no idea how long it would take for them to get to the hunters, and if he was being honest he was tired. Getting some rest was a good idea.

“Thank you.”

Celestino nodded. “I’ll see you later tonight.”

Victor returned the nod before going to the door and letting himself out, once again Phichit followed him. When the door closed behind them Victor looked over at him.

“Still friends?”

It was a strange question, had they really been friends to begin with? All Phichit knew was that he was someone that Yuuri apparently trusted, but after everything he had revealed he could only imagine Phichit wasn’t sure what to make of him now. The dragon was eyeing him carefully, as if trying to read him. But then his posture softened, and he bumped him gently with his wing. Victor smiled.

“We’re going to get them back Phichit. I’m going to do whatever I can to make sure of it.”

Phichit nodded. He nudged Victor’s hand with his nose then started off towards the village. Victor watched him go a moment before following.

_Just hang on Yuuri._ he thought. _We’re coming._


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The rescue!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay on this chapter. I had planned on posting it yesterday, but then I decided to get caught up on the new season of Doctor Who. >.>
> 
> But here it is now! A note, this is the chapter where that last tag comes into play, but I want to again remind readers that it is a very brief implication that honestly when reading back through is easily missed.

Celestino’s plan, it turned out, was not entirely unlike the plan Victor and Yuuri had come up with. Although with more people, a few dragons, and much better knowledge of where they were going. Celestino told him how they had been keeping tabs on the dragon hunters for a long time, even going so far as to have people on the inside feeding them information on the hunters every move. The particular group that had taken Yuuri and his family were especially despised by Celestino and the other inhabitants of the island. Celestino had been hesitant to explain why with Phichit around, but the stubborn young dragon had refused to leave until he was told.

The group they were seeking out ran dragon fights. Phichit had let out a low growl when he heard this and Victor’s stomach had twisted uncomfortably at the thought of shy, timid Yuuri being forced to fight for his life. The whole idea was disgusting. The fights were held on a small island off the coast of the mainland, small enough to be generally ignored, but large enough to serve its purpose. 

It was an exclusive community involved in the fights, so sneaking someone in among the patrons was not an option. Instead, armed with a detailed map of the interior of the base, Victor and Celestino would sneak in through the back and search for the dragons while the rest of their group caused a distraction on the main side. Said distraction was being executed full force, shouts echoing on the surface above as Victor and Celestino ran through dim lit halls. The base had been carved directly into the rocky hillside of the island, the hall they were running through housing the rooms where the hunters that lived on the island stayed. Celestino took occasional glimpses at the map, though Victor had a feeling the man had the thing memorized.

They only encountered hunters twice, both times managing to hide themselves before being noticed. Victor was surprised at the lack of security, and when he said as much was informed that most of the hunters were away from the island. The fights were held at specific times, and when they weren’t happening most of the hunters left to find new dragons. Victor continued to be impressed by how organized and well informed Celestino and his men were. He was beginning to realize how right Chris had been about his and Yuuri’s plan, not that he would ever admit that to his friend.

They eventually came to what Celectino was looking for, a doorway with a set of narrow stairs that went deeper into the hillside. At the bottom was a heavy looking metal door that Celestino immediately went to work unlocking. Victor glanced over his shoulder, he couldn’t hear anything anymore and he didn’t know if it was because they were too deep or-

“Got it,” Celestino interrupted his thoughts, Victor looked forward as the door swung open. Celestino glanced at him over his shoulder and gave a nod before stepping through, Victor quickly followed.

They entered a small cavern with a large metal door set into the wall to their right, light seemed in through cracks around the door making it possible to see. Beyond the door Victor could once again hear the commotion outside. There were six dragons in the cavern, five of them were huddled together while the sixth, a large black dragon, was near the metal door. Its head whipped around at the sound of the smaller door opening and upon seeing them immediately hunched down and let out a threatening snarl. Celestino help up his hands, showing he had nothing on him, and Victor did the same.

“Easy now,” the older man said gently. “We’re not here to hurt you, we’re here to help.”

The dragon only lowered itself closer to the ground, Victor knew that position, had seen it many times from other animals. The dragon was getting ready to attack them. He cast a nervous glance to Celestino, but the other man kept his focus on the dragon and looked completely unfazed.

“Are you Takeshi?”

The dragon stopped snarling. It lifted its head slightly and inclined it to one side as it considered Celestino carefully.

“Axel, Lutz, and Loop, they’re your little ones correct?”

The dragon’s eyes went wide as the head of one of the others off to the side—a smaller red one—shot up. The second dragon stood and took a few tentative steps forward. The black dragon, Takeshi, looked over and made a sound that Victor could best describe as a graveled bark. The red dragon looked at it and made a few similar sounds, Victor quickly realized the two were talking. Or perhaps arguing was a better description as neither sounded very happy, though that could also be due to the situation.

“Your little ones are all right,” Celestino said, cutting into whatever discussion the two dragons were having. Both silenced and looked at him. “Phichit brought them to our island, he’s here with us and has been very worried about all of you.”

Takeshi still didn’t look entirely convinced as he eyed Celestino with a mixture of uncertainty and distrust. The red dragon, after a few tense moments slowly approached, ignoring the sound Takeshi made. Inching forward until it was right in front of Celestino, the red dragon looked up at him and said something. Celestino smiled gently as he lowered his arms.

“They’re safe, and desperately missing their mama.”

The red dragon completely relaxed at hearing that. She raised herself up as she moved forward, closing the distance to press her forehead against Celestino’s. The man chuckled and placed a gentle hand on the side of her head.

“We need to get out of here,” Celestino said when he pulled away. “Are all of you able to fly?”

The red dragon looked back towards the remaining dragons with a look in her eyes Victor couldn’t identify. Celectino followed her gaze before carefully approaching, Victor followed after him a moment later. Two of the dragons, a pale yellow one that was slightly smaller than the red one, and a gray one were huddled close to one that was a blend of brown and yellow. The fourth dragon, this one a light auburn color, was sitting close by. The brown and yelling dragon was laying on its side and Victor could see a number of cuts, it looked in bad shape. As Celestino knelt down and the pale yellow one said something to him, Victor suddenly realized who was missing.

“Yuuri…” Celestino looked at him. Victor looked around to make sure he wasn’t mistaken. “Yuuri isn’t here.”

Celestino looked back to the pale yellow dragon, who said something else, before looking at Victor again.

“He was here. But after the last fights the hunters forced him to change into his human form and dragged him away. Mari.” He nodded to the injured dragon. “Tried to stop them, that’s why she’s hurt.”

“Where is he?”

Celestino looked to the pale yellow dragon once again, who shook its head. Victor felt his stomach tighten, if Yuuri wasn’t here then where was he? Was he still somewhere on the island? Or had they taken him somewhere else? And if so why? Why had they taken him away in the first place? He didn’t like this, not at all.

“I’m going to look for him,” he declared and turned to hurry off, but Celestion stopped him.

“Victor you don’t know where he is or if he’s even on the island,” he said, voicing Victor’s thoughts aloud. “We can’t waste that kind of time. By now the hunters must know something is up, we have to get out of here.”

“I’m not leaving without Yuuri. If he is here and I left without him I’d never be able to forgive myself. You get the rest of them out of here, don’t worry about me.”

He waited for the other man to argue but received only silence. There was a light shuffling behind him and a moment later he felt something brush against his hand. Jumping slightly, he looked down to see the pale yellow dragon peering up at him. It said something to him and he looked at Celestino for a translation. The man sighed.

“She’s telling you to be careful. And to bring her son back.”

Victor’s eyes widened, he looked down at the dragon again. This was Yuuri’s mother, and she was trusting him to find her son and bring him back to her. He felt his chest swell at the sentiment and offered her a smile.

“I promise I’ll do everything I can to bring him back.”

Yuuri’s mother nodded and stepped back. Victor gave Celestino a final look before turning away again and hurrying from the room.

He had no idea where to even start, but fortunately the hallway was still empty so it gave him a moment to think and get his bearings. Of course, he didn’t know the layout of this place so there was only so much that would do. He knew to his left was forward, towards the front of the base, he didn’t want to go that way if he didn’t have to. To his right was the direction he and Celestino had come. They had passed a number of doors, so he figured that was as good a place as any to start. With all the commotion going on outside he didn’t think anyone would be hiding out, but he nocked an arrow just in case.

The rooms in the first hallway turned up nothing, at the end he turned right and dashed down the next hall. This hall was not very long with only four doors, two on the left, one on the right, and one at the far end. The first three rooms were as empty as the ones before them, and he saw no signs of stairs that might lead up to a second level. He was beginning to fear Yuuri indeed wasn’t anywhere on the island. The last door at the end of the hall was locked, a sign there was something in there the hunters didn’t want easily found. He leaned his weight against the door, testing its durability. The door itself was solid, but it wiggled slightly where it was set into the rock. Shifting his feet, he slammed his shoulder against it, feeling it shudder slightly. Trying again, he felt it shudder more and heard a slight cracking sound. He took a couple steps back, angled himself just so, then rushed forward throwing all his weight into it. With a much louder crack the door gave way, sending him stumbling into the room. Quickly regaining his balance, he looked around.

The room was bigger than the previous ones, and looked a good deal nicer with a few paintings hanging on the walls and a number of rich looking furs scattered about. Sacks of gold coins were sitting open on a table to one side, no doubt the till from the last round of fights. There was even a small window carved into the rock wall right above the bed. As Victor’s eyes drifted down to it he felt relief wash over his entire being.

Yuuri was sitting on the bed, his back pressed against the stone wall and his eyes wide and fearful. The scene was reminiscent of the first time they had met. Victor watched as the fear slowly shifted to shock and disbelief as Yuuri’s eyes focused on him.

“V-Victor…?”

Blinking out of his daze Victor hurried over, dropping his bow to the ground as he knelt beside the bed. He brought his hands up and placed them gently on Yuuri’s cheeks.

“I didn’t think I was going to find you…” he said quietly.

Yuuri was filthy. His hair was matted, his wings disheveled, and his body was littered with a myriad of cuts and bruises, the most prominent of the bruises being on his wrists and thighs. The collar around his neck had a thick chain attached to it that was connected to the wall behind the bed. Victor felt his stomach churn as the worst possible thought came to mind, and when their eyes met and he saw Yuuri’s eyes devoid of the brightness he had so come to adore he knew his fears to be true.

Yuuri was staring at him like he couldn’t believe he was real despite Victor’s hands on his face. Bringing his own shaking hands up Yuuri mirrored him, his eyes going even wider as his trembling fingers brushed against the skin of Victor’s face. Tears immediately began to well up in his eyes and next moment he flung himself forward, wrapping his arms tightly around Victor’s neck. Victor recovered quickly from nearly being knocked over to wrap his own arms around Yuuri’s smaller frame, pulling him in and holding him close. Yuuri shook as he sobbed into Victor’s shoulder, causing the man to hold him tighter and gently stroke his hair. The heavy metal collar that was around Yuuri’s neck dug into Victor’s own neck uncomfortably but he ignored it.

“It’s all right,” he murmured close to the dragon’s ear. “It’s all right I’m here, you’re safe now.”

It was several minutes before Yuuri’s quiet sobs began to subside, Victor’s hold on him never once wavered. Only when the tears finally stopped and Yuuri started to pull away did Victor lessen his hold, but only so much as to put his hands on the dragon’s arms.

“I have to get you out of here, those cuts need treated before they get infected.” He started to stand. “Do you know where the k-”

He paused when Yuuri suddenly grabbed his arm in a tight grip. Startled, Victor looked back to see Yuuri looking at him with wide, frantic eyes, he shook his head quickly.

“I… I can’t…”

Victor furrowed his brow. “What?”

Yuuri released his arm and looked down, fresh tears began to form in his eyes.

“I… I can’t leave… My… my family… If I… If I fight back or try to escape they’ll…”

He didn’t finish, but Victor understood. Kneeling down, he placed a gentle hand over one of Yuuri’s.

“Yuuri, it’s all right. Your family is all right. In fact, they’re probably half way back to the island by now.”

 

Yuuri lifted his gaze and inclined his head slightly.

“The island?” Victor smiled and nodded.

“Yes. The one you told me about, it’s real. I’m here with people from it, we’re here to rescue you and your family.”

Yuuri’s eyes were once again wide as he stared at Victor in a mixture of shock and hesitant relief.

“So… so Phichit and the little ones…?”

“They’re safe. In fact Phichit is here with us.”

Yuuri perked up. “He’s here?”

“Unless he flew off with the others. Though I hope not, you don’t look in any condition to fly. Do you know where the key is? We have to get out of here.”

The commotion from outside had died down, which likely meant the dragons had made their escape. At least he hoped that was the case. Either way it meant the hunters would be returning to the base, if they didn’t get out now they never would. Victor looked at Yuuri expectantly, but the dragon shook his head.

“One of the hunters has it…”

Victor swore, of course a hunter would have it. Something like that wouldn’t be left lying around even if the chain connected to Yuuri’s collar only looked long enough to let him stand beside the bed. There had to be another way to get the collar off. Idly he wondered if Celestino would have been able to pick the lock as he looked around for something, anything that he could use. If he couldn’t get the collar off then maybe he could get the chain out of the wall. The chain was connected to a thick spike that had been driven into the wall, if he could just knock it loose…

He stood and moved away from the bed, quickly searching around for anything heavy enough he could use while keeping an ear towards the door for any sounds of someone approaching. For all its lavish furnishings however the room was rather bare, the only things with any sort of weight being the furniture itself. Victor wondered if he could break one of the legs off the table.

“Victor.”

He thought back to the other rooms he had checked, trying to remember if he had seen anything in any of them he could use. But they had been even more sparse than the room he currently stood in, many of them only having a small bed. Of course, going back to check would mean leaving Yuuri alone, and if the hunter that owned this room came back while he was gone…

“Victor.”

His eyes scanned the room, more frantic now, there had to be _something._ After a moment his gaze settled on the sacks of gold coins on the table. It wasn’t ideal, but they would have enough weight, and if he could get a proper enough swing-

_“Victor.”_

Victor blinked and looked towards Yuuri who was staring at him in slight frustration, how long had he been trying to get his attention?

“What is it?”

Yuuri let out a soft sigh, closing his eyes for a moment before opening them and looking at him again.

“You’re wasting too much time, you have to get out of here.”

Victor stared at him, mouth open slightly. He couldn’t possibly be suggesting...

“Yuuri…” he said slowly as he turned to face him fully. “What are you saying?”

Yuuri looked away and he felt his stomach drop, he knew exactly what the young dragon was thinking. He waited, hoping Yuuri would prove him wrong, but when Yuuri looked at him again there was a decisive look in his eyes

“You have to leave me here. If you stay any longer you’ll get caught.”

The words hit like a slap to the face even if he had been expecting them, Yuuri couldn’t be serious. He couldn’t actually think that Victor would leave him here, not after everything he had gone through just to find him. Victor made sure the displeasure at the idea was obvious on his face.

“Yuuri…”

“Victor _please,_ he begged, there were tears in his eyes again. Victor faltered. “They’ll kill you if they catch you. My family is safe, that’s all I ever wanted. Please, you have to go. I… I’d never be able to forgive myself if you got hurt because of me. Please…”

He looked down and Victor knew he wouldn’t look up again when his shoulders began to shake in quiet sobs. Victor watched silently for a long time, knowing every minute he stood there was another minute lost. He glanced to the door, listening hard for any sounds before approaching the bed. Kneeling down he bought his hands up and gently took Yuuri’s face once again, tilting it so that Yuuri was looking at him. Yuuri sniffled as he looked at Victor, tears pouring freely from his eyes. Victor wiped them away with his thumbs.

“Yuuri… There’s no way I’m leaving you here. It’s my fault you’re here in the first place.”

Yuuri furrowed his brow in confusion. He opened his mouth to say something, but Victor spoke up again before he could.

“You say you wouldn’t be able to forgive yourself if I got hurt, but how do you think I would feel knowing you’re here when I could have done something? I wouldn’t be able to live with myself, and how would I ever face your family? I made them a promise, and you know I don’t go back on my promises.”

Yuuri let out a single wet laugh despite himself and gave Victor a weak smile, the determination that had been in his eyes a moment ago was completely gone. Victor returned the smile, removing his hands so that Yuuri could wipe the tears from his face. Once his face was mostly dry Yuuri looked at him again, opening his mouth to say something but paused as his gaze shifted behind Victor. His eyes widened in alarm.

“Victor!”

Victor wheeled around, a flash of silver caught his eye and he fell back, narrowly avoiding the knife that had been coming towards him. He sprang to his feet as the hunter that had appeared in the room came at him again. Victor sidestepped quickly, flicking his eyes towards Yuuri. Yuuri was at the edge of the bed, his eyes wide and fearful, he had to make sure the hunter didn’t decide to focus his attention on Yuuri. Drawing his own knife, he took a few steps back, increasing the distance between him and Yuuri. The hunter however seemed oblivious to Yuuri, his rage focused solely on Victor.

“Dragon loving bastard!” the hunter cried before lunging for Victor once more.

Victor wasn’t a knife fighter. The only flesh his blade ever tasted was that of what he hunter, he had no idea how to wield one as a weapon. His only chance was to continue dodging and hope for an opening. But the more he danced around and avoided the hunter’s attacks the more enraged he became, causing him to swing his blade quickly and erratically. A sharp pain in his arm and a cry from Yuuri told him when he had been too slow. He stumbled back, a hand gripping his arm as his back hit the wall. The hunter smirked before rushing at him, raising his knife above his head and bringing it down as he drew closer. Disregarding his own knife, Victor brought his hands up and caught the man’s wrist before the blade could plunge into his chest. He let out a grunt of effort as he struggled to push the hunter back, but the man was pushing just as hard, determined to drive his blade into Victor’s heart. Though his bow had made his arms strong, Victor could feel them shaking from the effort it took to hold the man back, he wasn’t going to last much longer. The hunter seemed to sense this too as a wicked sneer spread across his face. Victor’s arms screamed in protest as the man put all his strength into pushing back against him.

A sudden squelching crunch and something warm splattering on his face drew his attention. Blinking against the wetness on his face, it took Victor a moment to realize what had happened and when he did his eyes went wide. The tip of an arrow was sticking out of the hunter’s left eye. Victor stared at it, trying to process it when the man suddenly slumped to the ground with a dull thud.

Victor felt numb as he stared at the lifeless body on the ground, blood was beginning to pool around the hunter’s head. After what felt like an eternity Victor slowly looked up, his gaze settling on Yuuri who was standing beside the bed arms still raised and Victor’s bow still held out. He looked as shocked as Victor felt. Their eyes met, and the moment they did Yuuri collapsed back on to the bed, the bow slipping from his hands and clattering to the floor. Victor’s forced himself away from the wall and stumbled over to Yuuri, only allowing his legs to give out on him like they so desperately wanted to once he had reached the dragon.

“Yuuri…” he said gently as he took the dragon’s hands, unsurprised to find that he was trembling. Yuuri was staring at the floor without seeing it.

“I… I killed him…” Fresh tears slipped from his eyes, Victor wasn’t sure what to make of them. “I… I’ve never… H-he was… going to kill you I… I had to I…”

Yuuri closed his eyes tightly, belatedly trying to stave off the tears that were already falling. Now Victor understood. Yuuri was as gentle as they came, until he met Victor had had been afraid of humans, probably still was to some degree. But he had never had a desire to hurt them, so to kill one well, that had to be quite the shock. Victor gave his hands a reassuring squeeze.

“Yuuri it’s all right, you did what you had to do. He was going to kill me, and once he did he probably would have gone after you. You were protecting us, you saved me, I’m grateful to you Yuuri.”

Yuuri opened his eyes and lifted his gaze to look at him. Victor offered him a gentle smile that after a few moments Yuuri half returned. Though when his eyes drifted to the red patch on his arm the smile faded.

“Your arm…”

Victor glanced at it before looking at Yuuri again.

“I’ll be fine. We have to hurry. If he’s here then the other hunters are probably inside as well.”

He stood and turned towards the table, taking a step towards it when Yuuri suddenly grabbed his sleeve. He paused and looked back at him.

“Yuuri-”

“He has the key.”

Victor blinked. “What?”

Yuuri nodded towards the body. “That hunter. He’s the one with the key.”

Victor looked at him a moment before looking towards the dead hunter. He had to suppress the urge to laugh at the irony, killed by the dragon he had decided to chain up for his own personal enjoyment. Yuuri might not be able to enjoy the thought but Victor sure did. He stepped back to the body, kneeling down and quickly rummaging through his clothes. It didn’t take long to find the key and when he did he hurried back to Yuuri and unlocked the collar around his neck. Yuuri’s neck was red and raw from where the metal had rubbed against it, but Victor forced himself not to dwell on that fact for now. Instead he scooped up his bow before taking Yuuri’s hand and pulling him to his feet.

“Stay close to me.”

Before Yuuri had a chance to respond he turned and hurried for the door, pulling Yuuri behind him. All they had to do was make it to the end of the hallway where the opening to the tunnel that led outside was. It was the same tunnel he and Celestino had used to sneak into the base and he prayed Phichit was still there waiting for them.

A hunter appeared at the end of the hall, his shout of alarm cut short as Victor loosed an arrow into his chest. He was already drawing another arrow when two more hunters appeared.

“Keep running!” he called over his shoulder as the second arrow flew.

One of the hunters crumpled to the ground as the arrow hit its mark, the other hunter ducked back around the corner. As he fitted another arrow he slowed his pace enough to let Yuuri pass him, motioning for him to keep going. Yuuri hesitated for half a second before obeying. Victor leveled his bow, eyes focused on the corner where the hunter had disappeared. As Yuuri passed it the hunter jumped out, making a grab for him. Yuuri let out a startled cry and stumbled away, but the hunter never got near him as Victor’s arrow buried itself into his neck. Victor started running again.

“Go!” he called. “Into the tunnel.”

Yuuri looked at him then quickly looked around, when his eyes landed on the opening he dashed for it, quickly disappearing into the dark. Victor whipped around the corner, bringing his bow up and ready to loose an arrow into the first thing that moved. Thankfully the adjoining hallway was empty. He waited a few moments longer to be sure no more hunters were coming before lowering his bow and dashing into the tunnel.

The tunnel was pitch black, forcing him to slow his progression. He reached a hand out to his side, searching for the tunnel wall to use as a guide. It was the same way he and Celestino had made their way into the base, the older man not wanting to give themselves away by using torches. It made sense at the time, but now it was a hindrance. The tunnel itself was simple, but it still had a couple turns that hunters could be hiding around. His only saving grace was that they would be just a blind as him.

He strained his hearing, listening both in front of and behind him for even the slightest of sounds but the tunnel was eerily quiet. At the very least he thought he would have heard Yuuri running ahead of him, had he made it to the end of the tunnel already? Or was he doing the same as Victor? Walking slowly and being mindful of the area around him? Victor rather hoped he had made it to the end of the tunnel, at least then that would mean there was no one else in there except for the two of them.

“Victor.”

Victor nearly jumped out of his skin when the silence was suddenly broken. Out of reflex he brought his bow up, string drawn and pointed in the direction of the voice before the familiarity of it registered.

“Yuuri?”

A gentle hand came to rest atop of his, Victor relaxed, letting out a soft sigh and lowered his bow.

“I could have killed you… What are you doing here? You should be at the end of the tunnel by now.”

“I was waiting for you to make sure you were okay.”

“Yuuri this place is crawling with hunters, some of them could be in this tunnel.”

“I’m not worried about the hunters, I’d see them long before they saw me. I was worried about you.”

Victor furrowed his brow in confusion, a pointless act considering the darkness, so when Yuuri suddenly poked him right between the eyes he was more than a little startled.

“I’m a night dragon Victor, I’m accustomed to hunting a night so I can see just as well in the dark as I can in the light. Better even.”

Victor stared at where he hoped Yuuri’s face was, fully aware of how surprised he must look He hadn’t even known that was a thing for dragons, though really it made sense. Plenty of animals were better accustomed for the night rather than the day, why would a dragon be any different? There was still so much he didn’t know.

“Well then, I’m trusting you to make sure I don’t fall on my face,” he said with a smile, Yuuri giggled.

“We wouldn’t want that now would we?” Yuuri took his hand. “Come on.”

With Yuuri in the lead they were able to move much faster and it wasn’t long before the darkness around them began to lighten. They rounded a corner and there ahead of them light poured in through the end of the tunnel, thankfully there were no hunters in sight. When they reached the opening they had to shield their eyes as they finished adjusting to the change in light. Victor quickly scanned the rocks below them for a certain caramel colored dragon.

“Phichit?” he called.

The dragon’s head poked out from behind a rock. He looked first a Victor, but then his gaze shifted to Yuuri and his eyes went wide. Scrambling from his hiding place he took to the air, coming up to land right at the opening of the tunnel, Victor and Yuuri stepped back to give him space. The moment he landed he went right to Yuuri, draping his head around Yuuri’s shoulder. Yuuri threw his arms around his friend’s neck as tears fell from his eyes.

“Phichit I’m so glad you’re okay, I’ve been so worried about you.” Phichit grumbled something that had Yuuri hugging him tighter. “I’m fine Phichit…”

Phichit snorted in obviously disbelief but said nothing more. The two stood like that for a long time, Victor kept glancing back into the tunnel, listening for any sounds. The longer they stood there the more uneasy he felt, finally he stepped towards the two.

“I hate to break this up, but we really need to get out of here. Phichit do you know if everyone else made it out?”

The two separated and looked at him, Phichit nodded and said something.

“He said he saw them take off a while ago but when he didn’t see me with them he waited.”

Victor nodded. “Well I’m glad you did. Will you be able to carry both of us?”

Phichit’s attention went back to Yuuri. He looked his friend up and down, eyeing him carefully before nodding and lowering himself to allow them to get on. Victor got on first then looked to Yuuri who hadn’t moved. He frowned.

“Yuuri I know this is probably weird for you, but it’s a long way back to the island with nowhere to stop and rest in between. You’ve been through a lot and need to take it easy.”

Yuuri looked away, of all the times for him to be stubborn. Victor was contemplating simply grabbing him and pulling him on when Phichit stepped closer to his friends. He made a sort of cooing noise as he nudged Yuuri’s hand. Yuuri looked at him and Victor could see the moment his resolve crumbled. With a sigh he moved over and climbed onto Phichit’s back behind Victor, wrapping his arms around the taller man’s waist. Victor patted Phichit’s neck in approval.

“Lets go.”

Phichit nodded and turned towards the mouth of the tunnel. It wasn’t wide enough for him to spread his wings out, so he hopped out and spread them once in the air, gliding along the surface of the water before giving a few strong flaps to carry them high into the air. They took a moment for Victor to determine their direction and then they were off, leaving the island of the hunters behind them. Yuuri’s arms tightened around Victor’s waist and the man couldn’t help but smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just one more chapter to go!
> 
> I think of all the chapters this one gave me the hardest time while writing. As I mentioned before, during writing I struggled with this story because I kept thinking there was so much more I could be doing with it and I especially felt that during this chapter. I kept debating on how much of the infiltration I should write. If I should include what was going on outside the base while Victor and Celestino made their way through. With more time I probably would have, but ultimately decided that what Victor and Celestino were doing was more important. So hopefully this chapter didn't feel as rushed as I felt it was when writing it.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reflections, discussions, and decisions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here it is! The final chapter. I'm sorry for the delay in getting this out, life got a little busy and then I threw myself into my new cosplay since I have a con next month and I'm hoping to debut it there (hoping being the operative word because dear god there's so much to do @.@).
> 
> I want to give a huge thank you to everyone who gave kudos and I especially want to thank everyone who took the time to comment. Your kind words made me feel so much better about this story and about my writing in general.
> 
> And now, without further ado, on to the chapter!

The first thing Yuuri did when they finally reached the island was ask about his family. Celestino had come forward much in the way he had when Victor had first arrived on the island—Victor was relieved to see he was all right—and personally took Yuuri to see them while Victor was whisked off to have his arm tended to. Victor had gone without a fuss, knowing Yuuri needed the time with his loved ones, he didn’t see him the rest of the day.

The following day one of the island residents came to him and brought him to where Yuuri and his family had been put up, a building that was part of the clinic that specifically cared for dragons. Here he was more properly introduced to the dragons that made up that made up Yuuri’s family and was surprised to learn only three of them were actually connected to Yuuri by blood.

The only one he knew for sure was his mother, the pale yellow dragon whose name he learned was Hiroko. The gray dragon was Toshiya, Yuuri’s father, and the brown and yellow dragon that had been hurt while trying to protect Yuuri was Mari, Yuuri’s sister. Yuuko, the red dragon, and her mate Takeshi were friends of Yuuri’s like Phichit. Their younglings he had already met. The last dragon, the one that was a light auburn was Minako, a friend of Yuuri’s parents who had known both Yuuri and his sister since they were born. It was quite the group, but after watching them for only a few minutes Victor could see how close they all were, and he was overjoyed that they had finally been reunited.

The moment he had entered the building Hiroko and Toshiya had gone to him, expressing their gratitude for everything he had done, especially staying behind despite the risks to himself to make sure Yuuri was returned to them. Victor insisted it was nothing, that he was just glad they were together again. Over the next few days he spent most of his time with Yuuri and his family, quickly feeling as if he had known them all his life.

Hiroko and Toshiya doted on their children, making sure they were eating, making sure they were comfortable, typical parent stuff. Yuuri had tried to shoo his parents off, insisting he was fine and that they should worry about themselves and Mari. Mari had cuffed him in the side of the head with her wind and grumbled something at him. Victor later learned she was chastising him for trying to deny their parents the chance to take care of them, him especially since they had gone so long not knowing where he was or if he was even alive. Yuuri hadn’t refused his parents attention after that.

During that time Victor told Yuuri how he had come to find the island. That Phichit had come looking for him, found Victor instead, and after some tense negotiations had brought Victor to the island where he met Celestino and a rescue plan had been formed. Yuuri had been shocked to learn that these people had been so eager to come after a bunch of dragons they didn’t know, but Celestino had assured him that this was a common occurrence. They had been foiling the hunters for years and had no intentions of stopping any time soon.

When he wasn’t with Yuuri and his family Victor was in the village, lending a hand where he could or simply wandering around and admiring everything these people had built. He still had a hard time believing this place was actually real. At one point Celestino came to him to thank him personally for everything he had done, claiming things would have turned out much different had he not been there.

“We would have been forced to leave Yuuri behind,” he admitted. “Yuuri’s family likely would have never trusted us completely, and the chances of us finding him again would have been slim. He’s here because of you.”

“He was also in that predicament because of me…” When Celestino raised an eyebrow, he sighed. “I shot him down. He spent weeks cooped up in a small clearing because of my brazen stupidity. I mean what sort of idiot tries to shoot a dragon? If I had just left him alone he would have made it here and you would have rescued his family ages ago.”

Celestino considered him a moment before speaking.

“Perhaps, but then you never would have learned that dragons aren’t the monsters you thought they were. And if I remember correctly you shared this knowledge with others.”

“Well… sure but-”

“I admit the circumstances aren’t ideal, but in the long run I think it’s best things turned out the way they did.” At the incredulous look Victor gave him he continued. “Our goal here is to protect dragons, going after the hunters alone isn’t enough. We need people to realize that dragons aren’t monsters, that we have nothing to fear by them. Before all this you hated dragons, enough so that you almost joined the dragon hunters yourself and against better judgment took a shot at a dragon. I’d say if someone with that much hatred can have a change of heart then we have a fighting chance of achieving our goal.”

Victor gave a hum of acknowledgment and looked towards the village. It was true that meeting Yuuri had changed him—for the better he might add—but it didn’t change the fact that his involvement with Yuuri had put him in danger and put a longer delay on rescuing his family. That was not a fact he could easily dismiss. Even time he looked at Yuuri he was reminded of what the dragon had been through, how could he even consider staying by his side when the mere sight of him made him feel so guilty?

As if reading his thoughts, Celestino spoke again.

“You should talk to Yuuri about it, hear what he thinks. If he indeed feels uncomfortable around you then I won’t say any more. But if he thinks you’re being as ridiculous as I do, then we could really use you here.”

Victor didn’t say anything. Celestino put a hand on his shoulder and gave it a brief squeeze before turning and walking away.

That conversation had been two days ago, and of course Victor hadn’t said a word to Yuuri about his concerns. He told himself it wasn’t the right time, that Yuuri needed to be with his family without being weighed down by Victor’s insecurities. It was a weak excuse, and he knew it, but he stuck to it nonetheless. 

It had been five days since the rescue, and a celebration had been organized to recognize their success against the hunters. There was copious amounts of food, music, and dancing around a large bonfire. Victor was surprised to learn that Yuuri was rather light on his feet in his human form. He stood mesmerized as Yuuri danced with the villagers, his face alight with happiness and his eyes sparkling brighter than he had ever seen. When Yuuri eventually pulled him into the dancing he found himself falling further and further under the spell that was Yuuri. He was glad to see Yuuri able to enjoy himself around an entire village of strangers. The first couple days had been rocky as Yuuri struggled to trust the people that had saved him and his family, but reassurances from Victor, Phichit, and Celestino had eventually broke through his walls and now it was like he had always been part of this community. He felt at ease knowing that even if he did leave Yuuri would be in good hands.

The festivities went late into the night, Victor eventually slipped away when he began to feel the buzz of the alcohol he had consumed. He stood at the edge of the cliff closest to the village, taking in a deep breath of sea air to clear his head as the music from the village played lightly behind him. Being here was nice. If he was being honest with himself he didn’t want to leave. It was incredible what these people had done, what they continued to do. After seeing all that he had he wanted nothing more than for them to achieve their goal of humans and dragons one day co-existing as they once did. And once again if he was being honest, he wanted nothing more than to help them. But-

“There you are,” a voice rang out behind him. He jumped and whirled around.

Yuuri was approaching him, and Victor once again found himself entranced by his appearance. He had been given new pants, these ones a deep blue and a much better fit than the ones Victor had given him. Yuuri had even admitted that they were quite comfortable much to Victor’s amusement. The rays of the moon gave his skin an almost ethereal glow and reflected off the gold flecks in his eyes to really make the color stand out. Even his wings seemed to glow, flashes of blue and purple reminiscent of his scales caught Victor’s eye with each step Yuuri took. Completing the look was a crown of wild flowers and ribbons sitting upon his dark locks making him look more like some sort of fae prince than a dragon in human form. The entire effect was stunning. Stopping to stand before him, Yuuri was able to look him in the eye since they were standing on an incline.

“When I looked around for you you were gone.”

Victor swallowed and managed a smile, clearly Yuuri was oblivious to the effect he was currently having on him.

“Sorry. Needed to get away for a minute for some air.”

It seemed an odd excuse considering they were outside, but Yuuri nodded in acceptance and looked past him towards the sea. Victor turned back around to do the same.

“It’s nice here,” Yuuri said when the silence between them had stretched out. He was standing beside Victor now, Victor nodded.

“It is. I think you and your family will be happy here.”

“Yeah…”

Victor heard the shift in his tone and frowned. He looked over to see Yuuri staring at the ground.

“Yuuri?” When Yuuri flinched slightly he felt his concern rise. He turned to face him properly. “Yuuri what’s wrong?”

Yuuri shook his head but refused to look up, now Victor was starting to get worried.

“Yuuri talk to me, what’s wrong? Why won’t you-”

“Are you leaving?”

Victor blinked. He looked Yuuri over a bit more closely and realized the dragon had gone tense, as if he were afraid of what Victor was going to say. At the moment, he had no idea _what_ to say.

“Where did that come from?” he finally settled on. Yuuri hunched into his shoulders a bit.

“I… I heard Celestino taking to some of the villagers. They were asking him if you were going to be sticking around, and he said he didn’t know. That he thought you wanted to but had reservations about something.” Yuuri looked up at him, and Victor was startled to see tears in his eyes. “Is it because of me? Am I the reason you don’t want to stay?’

“Wha-” He stared at him, completely taken aback. Of all the things Yuuri could have said he never would have expected this. “Yuuri I… Why-”

“Because I can leave,” Yuuri cut him off again. “I don’t have to stay here, I can go somewhere else. They need you here Victor, there are so many more dragons out there that need help, think of all the good you could do here. I’ll leave. You’ll be much more useful than me anyway so-”

“Whoa, whoa, okay Yuuri calm down, breath.” He put his hands on the dragon’s shoulders to silence his rambling. Yuuri was crying freely now, his shoulders shaking under Victor’s grasp. Victor waited for him to take a few calming breaths before speaking again. “I don’t know where all this is coming from, but whether I stay or go has nothing to do with you. I mean…” He sighed. “Not in the way you think anyway…”

Yuuri sniffled and looked at him, he tilted his head to the side in confusion. Victor sighed again and released his shoulders, running a hand through his hair. This was _not_ how he had intended to have this conversation.

“It’s just… You’ve been through so much. Your home was attacked, you were separated from your family, and then because of me you couldn’t go look for them right away. Because of my rash decision you were forced to sit and wonder where they were, if they were okay. I can’t even begin to imagine what you were going through at that time, and all I did was teach you to fish and how to use a bow.”

Yuuri wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, he was staring at Victor in surprise.

“Victor…’

“And then you got captured and… I don’t even want to think about what those bastards did to you…” Yuuri wrapped his arms around himself and looked away, further confirming what Victor already knew. “If I hadn’t seen you that night, if I hadn’t shot you down… You could have been with your family so much sooner.”

Yuuri hugged himself tighter and closed his eyes, Victor watched him and waited. Waited for him to say something, anything. But when the silence between them stretched on, and Yuuri gave no indication he was going to speak he sighed, so much for being ridiculous. He looked away.

“I’ll go talk to Celestino and make arrangements to leave tomorrow morning. Goodbye Yuuri…”

Resisting the urge to look at him Victor turned and started to head back towards the village. He paused when he heard a shuffling noise and started to turn but was stopped when Yuuri collided with his back and wrapped his arms tightly around his waist.

“Y-Yuuri wha-”

“Your wrong,” Yuuri choked out, he was crying again. “Victor you’re so, so wrong.”

“Yuuri…”

“I was terrified to look for this island. I kept thinking, what if it doesn’t exist? What if the stories are wrong and it’s not a safe place for dragons? What if I get there and they refuse to help? That’s why… That’s why I was circling that night I… I couldn’t decide what to do. I knew I needed to go look for Phichit and the girls but… but I was afraid.”

Victor listened silently, he didn’t dare interrupt. This was clearly something Yuuri needed to get out. It was several minutes before he spoke again.

“But then… meeting you… Victor you gave me my first glimpse of hope. When I told you about what happened you offered to help without question. You had no reason to help me, but you did. I don’t know what might have happened if you hadn’t shot me down. Maybe you’re right and I would have found my family sooner but… But I’m glad you did.” Victor tensed and inhaled sharply, did he really just…? “I’m so, so glad to of met you Victor. So please… Please don’t leave…”

The last part was a whisper, but Victor heard it. He heard it but couldn’t believe it, Yuuri was asking him to stay. With Yuuri pressed against his back he could feel the dragon trembling as he waited for Victor to answer, but what could he say? Was it really okay for him to stay in spite of everything? He shifted and turned in Yuuri’s grasp so he could face him, Yuuri loosened his grip enough to let him do so but didn’t let go completely. Once facing him Yuuri looked up at him, his eyes desperate and pleading, Victor felt his heart ache. He brought his hands up to cup Yuuri’s face, brushing his tears away gently with his thumbs. Yuuri relaxed into his touch, his eyes slipping shut and oh how he wanted this. To stay by Yuuri’s side, to be there for him and help him in any way he could. To see those bright eyes and that warm, beautiful smile every day, he could think of nothing better.

Yuuri suddenly went rigid under him, that wasn’t right. A moment ago he had been begging Victor to stay and now he was uncomfortable? What changed so suddenly? Why was he-

Oh. His brain suddenly caught up with him. He was kissing him. Yuuri was completely frozen, his eyes wide and Victor was kissing him. When had that happened? He pulled away, and only then did Yuuri move, if you could call blinking rapidly in shock moving. Victor tried to step away, but Yuuri still had an unusually strong grip on him.

“Yuuri I… I’m sorry I… I don’t know what came over me I-”

He was silenced by Yuuri bringing a hand up and placing a finger on his lips. Yuuri had the fingers of his other hand to his own lips as he looked at him curiously, like he was contemplating something. How could he do something like that? Yuuri had just bared his soul for him, had told him fears he had likely been trying to forget and he had been a complete creep. He waited for Yuuri to take back everything he had said, to tell Victor to leave and never come back. And then Yuuri leaned up, standing on his toes and pulling his finger away to press his lips against Victor’s. Now it was Victor’s eyes that went wide. Yuuri’s eyes were shut tight but he didn’t pull away. After a few moments Victor relaxed and gingerly kissed him back. Yuuri flinched slightly like he was going to pull away but then he relaxed as well.

Victor’s arms slowly slipped around Yuuri’s waist to pull him closer, in response Yuuri brought his arms up to wrap around Victor’s neck. Victor was in heaven. If he had known it would be this wonderful to kiss Yuuri he would have done it ages ago. They stood like that for a long time, eventually having to break apart to breath. Victor pressed his forehead against Yuuri’s

“So… Does this mean you’re staying?” Yuuri asked quietly.

Victor chuckled and in response to his question he leaned down and kissed him again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there you have it! I hope you are all as happy with the ending as I am. I again want to thank everyone who showed their appreciation for this story whether it was through kudos or comments, I really can't express how much every kudo or comment meant to me.
> 
> If you enjoyed this story then please check out my other ongoing story [Winter Hearts.](http://http://archiveofourown.org/works/10428501/chapters/23026623) Victor and Yuuri are childhood friends, but after a misunderstanding Victor has vanished and Yuuri has set out to search for him. It's only three chapters in so far, with the fourth in the works and I'm hoping to have finished soon, but I have a lot planned for it so there will be plenty to look forward to.


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